Automated document processing system using full image scanning

ABSTRACT

A document processing system comprises an input receptacle for receiving documents. A transport mechanism receives the documents from the input receptacle and transports the documents past a full image scanner and a discrimination unit. An output receptacle receives the documents from the transport mechanism after being transported past the full image scanner and the discrimination unit. The full image scanner includes means for obtaining a full video image of said documents, means for obtaining a image of a selected area of said documents, and means for obtaining information contained in said selected area of said document. The discrimination unit includes means for determining the authenticity of said document. A system controller directs the flows of documents over the transport mechanism.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 08/664,262, filed on May 13, 1996

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to document processing systems suchas automatic teller machines and currency redemption machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The primary object of the invention is to provide a document andcurrency processing system capable of processing documents utilizingfull image scanning and a currency discriminator.

[0004] It is a further object of the invention is to provide a documentprocessing system capable of processing documents utilizing full imagescanning.

[0005] It is another object of the invention is to provide a currencyprocessing system capable of processing currency utilizing a currencydiscriminator.

[0006] It is another object of the invention to provide a documentprocessing system capable of processing all types of documents andinterfacing with all types of outside accounting systems.

[0007] It is still another object of the invention to provide a documentprocessing system which obtains information by performing full imagescanning of documents and utilizes this information to determineadditional information such as the value of the document;

[0008] It is yet another object of the invention to provide a documentprocessing system which is coupled to an outside accounting system suchthat deposits and withdrawals from the outside accounting system areprocessed substantially immediately;

[0009] It is yet another object of the invention to provide a systemwhere deposits are processed substantially immediately.

[0010] It is a further object of the invention to provide a documentprocessing system whereby the full image of the scanned document can becommunicated to a central office.

[0011] It is yet another object of the invention to provide a currencyand document processing system which provides all the benefits of anautomated teller machine.

[0012] Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following detailed description and inreference to the drawings.

[0013] In accordance with the present invention, the foregoingobjectives are realized by providing a document processing systemcomprising an input receptacle for receiving documents; a transportmechanism receiving said documents from said input receptacle andtransporting said documents past a full image scanner and adiscrimination unit; an output receptacle for receiving said documentsfrom said transport mechanism after being transported past said fullimage scanner and discrimination unit; said full image scanner includingmeans for obtaining a full video image of said documents, means forobtaining a image of a selected area of said documents, and means forobtaining information contained in said selected area of said document;said discrimination unit including means for determining theauthenticity of said document; and a system controller for directing theflows of documents on said transport mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1a shows a block diagram of the components of a document andcurrency processing system with a single output bin according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 1b is a perspective view of one embodiment of the processingsystem with a video screen and keyboard according to principles of thepresent invention;

[0016]FIG. 1c is a diagram of the document processing system with touchscreen according to principles of the present invention;

[0017]FIG. 1d is a block diagram of the document processing system withtouch screen and keyboard according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0018]FIG. 1e is a block diagram of the document processing system withdual output bins according to principles of the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 1f is a block diagram of the document processing system witha plurality of output bins according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0020]FIG. 1g is a block diagram of the document processing systemwithout a discrimination unit and having a single output receptacleaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 1h is a block diagram of the document processing systemwithout a discrimination unit and having dual output receptaclesaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 1i is a block diagram of the document processing systemwithout a discrimination unit and having a plurality of outputreceptacles according to principles of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 1j is a cut-away view of the document processing systemsshowing three output bins,

[0024]FIG. 1k is a cut-away view of the document processing systemsshowing four output bins;

[0025]FIG. 1l is a cut-away view of the document processing systemsshowing six output bins;

[0026]FIG. 1m is a view of a document being scanned by the full imagescanner in the wide dimension,

[0027]FIG. 1n is a view of a document being scanned by the full imagescanner in the narrow dimension;

[0028] FIG 1 o is a view of a compact document processing systemaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0029]FIG. 1p is a block diagram of the document processing system withmodules to insert smart cards, dispense smart cards, and insert opticalmedia according to principles of the present invention;

[0030]FIG. 1q illustrates the document processing system according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0031] FIG 1 r is a block diagram of the document processing system withcoin sorter according to principles of the present invention;

[0032]FIG. 1s is a side view of an evaluation device depicting varioustransport rolls in side elevation according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0033]FIG. 1t is a side view depicting a stripping wheel according toone embodiment of the present invention;

[0034]FIGS. 1u-v are a diagrams of networks of full image scannersaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0035]FIGS. 1w-y are topological diagrams of networks of full imagescanners according to principles of the present invention;

[0036]FIG. 2 shows a flowchart describing the operation of the documentprocessing system according to principles of the present invention;

[0037]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the full image scanner according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0038]FIG. 4a is a block diagram of the discrimination unit according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0039]FIGS. 4b-4 d illustrate the scanning process of the discriminationunit according to principles of the present invention;

[0040]FIGS. 4e and 4 f illustrate the operation of the scanning processin the discrimination unit according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0041]FIGS. 5a and 5 b are graphs illustrating the correlation ofscanned and master patterns according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0042]FIG. 6 illustrates a multiple scanhead according to principles ofthe present invention;

[0043]FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the multiple scanheadsaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0044]FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment of the scanning system accordingto principles of the present invention;

[0045]FIG. 9 depicts another embodiment of the scanning system accordingto principles of the present invention;

[0046]FIG. 10 is a top view of a staggered scanhead arrangementaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0047]FIGS. 11a and 11 b are flowcharts illustrating the operation ofthe discrimination unit according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0048]FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of a counterfeit detector accordingto principles of the present invention,

[0049]FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of the discrimination unit according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0050]FIG. 14 is a graphical representation of the magnetic data pointsgenerated by two types of currency according to principles of thepresent invention;

[0051]FIG. 15 shows a functional block diagram illustrating oneembodiment of the currency discrimination unit according to principlesof the present invention;

[0052]FIGS. 16a and 16 b show a flowchart illustrating the steps inimplementing the discrimination unit according to principles of thepresent invention;

[0053]FIG. 17 illustrate a routine for detecting the overlapping ofbills according to principles of the present invention;

[0054]FIGS. 18a-18 c show one embodiment of the document authenticatingsystem in the discrimination unit according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0055]FIG. 19 shows a functional block diagram illustrating oneembodiment of the document authenticating system according to principlesof the present invention;

[0056]FIG. 20 shows a modified version of the document authenticatingsystem according to principles of the present invention;

[0057]FIG. 21 shows the magnetic characteristics of bills;

[0058]FIG. 22 shows other magnetic characteristics of bills;

[0059]FIGS. 23 and 24 illustrate bills being transported across sensorsaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0060]FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill according to principlesof the present invention;

[0061]FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill based on the presenceof a security thread according to principles of the present invention;

[0062]FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill based on the color ofthe security thread according to principles of the present invention;

[0063]FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill based on the color ofthe security thread according to principles of the present invention;

[0064]FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inmagnetically determining the denomination of a bill according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0065]FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill according to principlesof the present invention;

[0066]FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill based on threadlocation according to principles of the present invention;

[0067]FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill and magneticallyauthenticating the bill according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0068]FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inmagnetically determining the denomination of a bill and opticallyauthenticating the bill according to principles of the presentinvention,

[0069]FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating the steps in denominating thebill according to principles of the present invention;

[0070]FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating the bill both optically and magnetically according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0071]FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating the steps in denominating thebill magnetically and based on thread location according to principlesof the present invention;

[0072]FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill optically, based on thread location and magneticallyaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0073]FIG. 38 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill based on a first characteristic and authenticatingit based on a second characteristic according to principles of thepresent invention;

[0074]FIG. 39 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed in amethod where a bill is authenticated based on a first characteristic anddenominated based on a second characteristic according to principles ofthe present invention;

[0075] FIGS. 40-44 illustrate alternative methods for determiningcharacteristic information according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0076]FIGS. 45 and 46 illustrate methods where a bill is firstdenominated before it can be authenticated according to principles ofthe present invention;

[0077]FIG. 47 illustrate a method where a bill has to be first acceptedbefore it can be denominated according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0078]FIG. 48a illustrates the selection elements according toprinciples of the present invention,

[0079]FIG. 48b illustrates the selection elements according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0080]FIG. 48c illustrates the selection elements according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0081]FIGS. 49a, 49 b, 50 a, 50 b, 51 a, 51 b, and 52-53 illustratealternate means for entering the value of no-call documents according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0082]FIG. 54 illustrates one embodiment of the control panel accordingto principles of the present invention;

[0083]FIG. 55 shows the touch screen according to principles of thepresent invention;

[0084]FIG. 56a is a flowchart of the bill sorting algorithm unitaccording to principles of the present invention;

[0085]FIGS. 56b, 56 c, and 56 d are flowcharts of the funds distributionalgorithm according to principles of the present invention;

[0086]FIG. 56e is a flowchart of an alternate funds distributionalgorithm according to principles of the present invention;

[0087]FIG. 56f is a flowchart of the coin sorting algorithm according toprinciples of the present invention;

[0088]FIG. 57a illustrates means for entering the value of a no-calldocument according to principles of the present invention;

[0089]FIG. 57b illustrates means for entering the value of a no-calldocument on a touch screen according to principles of the presentinvention;

[0090]FIG. 58 is perspective view of a disc-type coin sorter embodyingthe present invention, with a top portion thereof broken away to showinternal structure;

[0091]FIG. 59 is an enlarged horizontal section taken generally alongline 59-59 in FIG. 58;

[0092]FIG. 60 is an enlarged section taken generally along line 60-60 inFIG. 59, showing the coins in full elevation;

[0093]FIG. 61 is an enlarged section taken generally along line 61-61 inFIG. 59, showing in full elevation a nickel registered with an ejectionrecess;

[0094]FIG. 62 is a diagrammatic cross-section of a coin and an improvedcoin discrimination sensor embodying the invention;

[0095]FIG. 63 is a schematic circuit diagram of the coin discriminationsensor of FIG. 62;

[0096]FIG. 64 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the coils in thecoin discrimination sensor of FIG. 62;

[0097]FIG. 65a is a circuit diagram of a detector circuit for use withthe discrimination sensor of this invention;

[0098]FIG. 65b is a waveform diagram of the input signals supplied tothe circuit of FIG. 65a;

[0099]FIG. 66 is a perspective view of an outboard shunting deviceembodying the present invention;

[0100]FIG. 67 is a section taken generally along line 67-67 in FIG. 66;

[0101]FIG. 68 is a section taken generally along line 68-68 in FIG. 66,showing a movable partition in a nondiverting position, and

[0102]FIG. 69 is the same section illustrated in FIG. 68, showing themovable portion in a diverting position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0103] As illustrated in FIGS. 1a and 1 b, a user deposits currency ordocuments into an input receptacle 16. By “currency”, “documents”, or“bills” it is meant to include not only conventional U.S. or foreignbills, such as $1 bills, but also to include checks, deposit slips,coupon and loan payment documents, food stamps, cash ticket, savingswithdrawal tickets, check deposit slips, savings deposit slips, and allother documents utilized as a proof of deposit at financialinstitutions. It is also meant by the term “documents” to include loanapplications, credit card applications, student loan applications,accounting invoices, debit forms, account transfer forms, and all othertypes of forms with predetermined fields. By “financial institutiondocuments” it is meant to include all of the above documents with theexception of currency. A transport mechanism 18 transports the documentsfrom the input receptacle 16 past a full image scanner 12, as thedocuments are illuminated by a light (not shown). The full image scanner12, described in greater detail below, scans the full image of thedocument, recognizes certain fields within the document, and processesinformation contained within these fields in the document. For example,the full image scanner 12 may search for the serial number field whenprocessing U.S. currency, determine the serial number once the field islocated, and store the serial number for later use by the system. Thesystem may also be used to capture any document image for electronicdocument display, electronic document storage, electronic documenttransfer, electronic document recognition (such as denominationrecognition or check amount recognition) or any other processingfunction that can be performed using an electronic image.

[0104] Next, the transport mechanism 18 transports the document past adiscrimination and authentication unit 14 which is also described ingreater detail below. The discrimination and authentication unit 14authenticates the document and, in the case of a bill, determines thedenomination of the bill. On other documents, such as checks, the systemmay capture information such as the check amount, account number, banknumber, or check number. The discrimination and authentication unit 14also directs the transport unit 18 to place the document in the outputreceptacle 16 as described below.

[0105] A dispensing unit 22 dispenses funds to a user. For example, whenthe user is depositing currency in an account, the system has thecapability to return all or part of a deposit back to the user in theform of bills, coins, or other media via the dispensing unit 22. Theamount of payback to the user may be supplemented by funds from otheraccounts, as well, as described below. The dispensing unit 22 is capableof accepting a variety of media including money orders, smart cards, andchecks and may include separate units directed to accepting a particulartype of media.

[0106] A controller 10 manages the operation of the system. Thecontroller 10 directs the flow of documents from the input receptacle 16through the transport mechanism 18, past the full image scanner 12 andthe discrimination and authentication unit 14, and into the outputreceptacle 20. The transport mechanism directs the documents through thesystem such that the documents are scanned either along their widedimension as shown in FIG. 1m. Alternatively, the documents are passedthrough the system such that they are scanned along their narrowdimension as shown in FIG. 1n. The controller 10 also directs thedispensing unit 22 to dispense funds to the user and routes informationfrom the full image scanner 12 and the discrimination and authenticationunit 14 to an interface 24 which communicates with an outside accountingsystem or central office. The controller is also capable of directinginformation from the outside office through the interface and to acommunications panel 26. Finally, the controller 10 selectivelyprocesses information from the full image scanner 12 and thediscrimination and authentication unit 14 for use by the system.

[0107] By “outside accounting system,” it is meant to include thehardware and software associated with accessing, maintaining, tracking,and updating savings accounts, checking accounts, credit card accounts,business and commercial loans, consumer payments, and all other similaraccounts at locations remotely located from the full image scanners. Theterm includes three broad types of systems: systems where deposits aremade; systems where withdrawals are made; and systems where bothdeposits and withdrawals are made. Although the outside accountingsystem described herein is described as being employed at a financialinstitution such as a bank, it will be understood that any business,public or private institution, or individual can employ an outsideaccounting system to process transactions. By “financial institution” itis meant to include savings and loans, investment houses, and all othertypes of financial institutions whether private, public, or government.The following description is in terms of banks but it also includes allfinancial institutions as well.

[0108] Various types of payments are made between customers of afinancial institution using a full image scanner and the accountingsystem at a selected financial institution. First, payments are madefrom one financial institution to another financial institution tosettle accounts. Second, payments are made from a retail customer to agiven financial institution or from the financial institution to thegiven retail customer. Third, financial institutions can issue paymentsto and receive payments from the Federal Reserve Banks within eachregion. Fourth, consumers can make payments or withdraw payments fromfinancial institutions. Fifth, businesses of many kinds can makepayments to or withdraw payments from financial institutions. Theoutside accounting system at the financial institution receivesinformation which has been processed at the full image scanner of thepresent invention. The outside accounting system performs differentoperations based upon the type of media used in the transaction and thetype of accounts accessed.

[0109] When checks are utilized in a transaction, the check is taggedwith the customer checking account number, the bank number, and theFederal Reserve Region. If multiple banks are involved in the payment,each bank's number is tagged to the payment through an endorsement onthe back of the check. Alternatively, the system could tag the checkselectronically. In other words, the customer checking account number,bank number, and Federal Reserve region are electronically tagged to thecheck's image. Tagging also occurs on current electronic payments suchas wire transfers.

[0110] The outside accounting system processes information associatedwith checking accounts which can be held by individual consumers,businesses, trace associations, trusts, non-profit organizations, or anyother organization. Documents utilized in the check account functioninclude checks, check account deposit slips, debit or credit slips whichmay be issued by the bank against the checking account, new accountapplication forms, and forms for customers to reorder check and depositslips. The full image scanner of the present invent processes all ofthese documents. The documents could be received at a full image scannerlocated at the teller line, a drive-up window, an ATM, or,alternatively, the documents may be received by mail. If received bymail, the bank employee immediately runs the documents through a fullimage scanner without having to forward the documents to a centrallocation for processing. The outside accounting system maintains arecord of all transactions regarding the checking account, balances, andtracks information associated with a particular check.

[0111] Savings accounts are another type of account for which theoutside accounting system processes information. Savings accountstypically receive some rate of interest payment on the balances held.Individuals may maintain interest bearing savings accounts at a bank.Depending upon the terms, a savings account could vary in duration forwithdrawal from immediate demand for withdrawal to as long as fiveyears. When a consumer agrees to leave the funds for a longer period oftime, this usually provides the account with a higher earning interestrate. Documents used in a savings account transaction include depositslips, withdrawal slips, new account application slips and debit orcredit slips which can be applied against the account by the givenbanking institution. The full image scanner of the present inventionprocesses all of these documents. Again, the documents could be receivedat the teller line, drive-up window, ATM, or by mail, and immediately bescanned at point of entry without transporting the document to a centrallocation. This information is sent to an outside accounting system whereit can be stored, monitored, and analyzed. The accounting systemcompiles statistics on customers and their accounts and maintainscurrent balances, interest earnings, available funds, availableadvances, and records all information concerning deposits andwithdrawals.

[0112] Credit card accounts are another type of account that are handledby the outside accounting system. When a credit card is used in atransaction, the bank typically receives a commission. The full imagescanner of the present invention reads credit cards which are being usedfor electronic payment. The outside accounting system maintains a recordof the customer's credit limit, available credit, current balance, andpayment. Preferably, the outside accounting system does not settle thecredit card balance until the end of the month when the customer paysthe balance due on the account.

[0113] The debit card is similar to a credit card but is a newer type ofmedia. With the debit card, the customer's account is immediatelydebited when the transaction takes place. The full image processingsystem of the present invention accepts debit cards and performs thesame functions described above with respect to credit cards.

[0114] Smart cards are a new evolving method of payment. Banks, phonecompanies, and transit authorities issue smart cards for use bycustomers. The smart cards have a pre-stored value in place which acustomer draws against. Consumers might deposit cash or write a check orsubmit a savings withdrawal document through the full image scanner topurchase a smart card.

[0115] Various other types of documents are maintained by a bank. Forexample, a bank may maintain a trust for an individual such as aretirement trust account. An outside accounting system can maintain alltypes of information regarding these types of accounts such as accountbalances, interest earnings, and maturity dates.

[0116] The outside accounting system also maintains records and managesinformation concerning mortgages, consumer loans, and student loans. Theoutside accounting system maintains records such as the loan balance,last payment, interest rate, and amount paid.

[0117] The outside accounting system also distributes funds between thevarious accounts described above. For example, an individual, withchecking and savings accounts at a bank, may also hold a mortgage withthe bank. The outside accounting system can make monthly withdrawalsfrom the checking account or savings account to pay the monthly mortgageamount due the bank. To accomplish this, the customer may issue a checkfor payment and submit this against a coupon provided to the customer bythe bank with the required monthly mortgage payment. The coupon and thecheck (or savings withdrawal and coupon) are run through the full imagescanner (at the teller line or automated teller). The information isread by the full image scanner and transmitted to the outside accountingsystem which conducts the required transfers.

[0118] A customer could use the outside accounting system toelectronically remove any funds from an account without issuing a checkas payment towards their mortgage. Alternately, a bank customer couldmail the check payment and loan coupon to the bank. Upon receipt, thebank employee immediately runs the check and coupon through the fullimage scanner at any bank location—branch, central offices, paymentcenter, etc. The document would not have to be forwarded to acentralized proof department for handling.

[0119] In a like manner, businesses can borrow funds from banks formortgages on commercial property. Again, monthly payments are required,and the corporation must withdraw funds from their checking account tomake these monthly payments. Again, an outside accounting system couldbe utilized to make an electronic payment without the use of checks byusing wire transfer or other methods, or the check for payment and thecoupon may be scanned by the full image scanner. Alternatively, a bankcustomer could mail the check payment and loan coupon to the bank. Uponreceipt, the bank employee immediately runs the check and coupon thoughthe scanner at any bank location—branch, central offices, paymentcenter, etc. Thus, the document would not have to be forwarded to acentralized proof department for handling.

[0120] Consumer loan transactions, for example, involving auto loans,home improvement loans, and educational loans, is another type oftransaction processed by the outside accounting system. Payments aretypically made using the monthly repayment schedule by the issuing ofthe check payable to the bank for the monthly balance. Full imagescanning of the check and loan coupon could be utilized for thistransaction. The payment can be processed as described above.Alternatively, the customer could mail payment and the bank couldprocess through its full image scanners.

[0121] Various types of business loan transactions are also processed bythe outside accounting system including a “bank line of credit” or“revolving loan.” This type of loan is typically one year in maturity. Agiven business draws up to an authorized amount in a given year. Forexample, a business may have a line of credit with a bank for up to $2million, and, on a daily basis, draw on this line of credit. The typicalcollateral provided for this loan would include accounts receivables,inventory, etc. As long as the business has receivables to support theloan, it can draw up to as much as the authorized amount. Then, when thefinancial position of the business improves, the business pays down thisrevolving loan either by issuing a check payable to the bank or throughwire electronic transfer from the business's cash account to the loanpayment. The full image scanner could be used to accept such checkpayments and the outside accounting system at the bank processes thesepayments as described above.

[0122] Other types of loans, such as term loans which might have afive-year maturity with a scheduled principle repayment and interestpayment required on a monthly or quarterly basis, are processed andtracked by the outside accounting system. Longer term loans, withcollateral such as buildings, are also available that might have a 10 to15 year life.

[0123] Banks sometimes underwrite bonds or other issues of securities bycorporations. For example, a business may hold an industrial revenuebond issued by a city in the amount of $1.5 million. However, in supportof the business's credit, the bank guarantees payment if the businesscould not perform. The business pays a small interest rate (for example,¼ or 1% per year) for the bank's guarantee. Checks are one method usedby banks for such payments. Therefore, the full image scanner andoutside accounting system may be utilized to process this type oftransaction, as described above.

[0124] Another important service provided by the outside accountingsystem for business accounts is cash management. This can be provided bylock box services or sweep accounts. For example, a business needs aminimum operating cash balance in their checking account each day tomeet requirements for payment to vendors or employees, for example. Eachday, hundreds of payments from various customers of the business arereceived, typically by check. The checks are deposited into the generalaccount of the business. When the business's account balances exceedsits operating requirements, the outside accounting system at the bankautomatically “sweeps” extra funds from the non-interest bearing accountto an interest bearing account such as commercial paper.

[0125] In a similar manner, many companies have customer paymentsdirected to a bank “lock box.” This lock box address is at a banklocation and all customer payments to the company are diverted to thislock box address. This insures that the payments are deposited asquickly as possible so that the bank's commercial customers haveimmediate use of the funds at the bank. The next day the outsideaccounting system at the bank advises the business which payments werereceived into the account and the business adjusts its accountsreceivables balance one day later, creating a timing problem due to thedelay.

[0126] The full image scanner of the present invention enables abusiness to scan the documents through the scanner at the business'slocation (thus, eliminating the need to first send payments to a banklock box location) and receive immediate credit electronically throughthe outside accounting system located at the bank. The check images andother images would immediately be available via the outside accountingsystem at the bank for settlement purposes. Therefore, lock box servicesby banks are handled on a de-centralized basis at bank customerlocations.

[0127] Another service the outside accounting system provides is paymentof payroll accounts. The business instructs the accounting system at thebank of the amounts to withdraw from the business's general account onthe day of payroll and credit the employee payroll accounts. The outsideaccounting system can also provide direct deposits to employee accountswithout actually issuing a check. Therefore, the employees haveimmediate use of their funds.

[0128] Businesses often maintain cash balances invested in bankcommercial paper. The bank, via the accounting system, pays interestdaily on the cash balances. Deposits and withdrawals are typicallyhandled by a pre-authorized officer of the company such as thecontroller. Movement of funds typically require written authorizationincluding a signature of the company officer. The full image scanner andoutside accounting system of the present invention are utilized forwithdrawals from commercial paper to a checking account or for purchaseof commercial paper. This could be initiated by inserting a pre-designedform with an area to add the amount filed and authorized signature. Thefull image scanner captures the amount and seeks a match for thesignature.

[0129] The system, via the link with a central office computer 15processes transactions substantially immediately. That is, deposits areprocessed in real time rather than waiting for the end of the day. Also,full images of all documents can be stored on mass storage devices 17 atthe central office. The images could also be stored at this unit itself,or at another remote system. The images could also be temporarily storedand forwarded at a later time.

[0130] A personal computer 11 also be connected to the system. Thepersonal computer can also process data from the scanning modules.Processing of scanned data can occur at the personal computer 11, withinthe full image scanning module 12 or the discrimination unit 14, or atthe central office computer 15 The system also is connected to tellerstation 13 (which includes a video display).

[0131] Several full image scanners can be interconnected to form a localarea network (LAN). The individual image scanners may be located atteller stations, in bank vaults, or at businesses, for example. In sucha network, some or all image processing is accomplished at the imagescanner and not at some centralized location. In other words, theprocessing functionality is “distributed” in such an arrangement. Theindividual LANs may have a different physical layouts or topologies.Referring now to FIG. 1w, full image scanners 6054, 6056, 6058, and 6060are connected to common bus 6062. Bus 6062 is coupled to an interface6052. The interface communicates with an outside accounting system whichfunctions as described above. The bus-based network topology isinexpensive, reliable, and requires the least amount of cable for anyLAN topology.

[0132] A LAN using a ring topology is illustrated in FIG. 1x. Full imagescanners 6054, 6056, 6058, and 6060 retransmit information to adjacentscanners using point-to-point links. The scanners communicate with othernetworks through an interface 6052. Although more expensive than the bustopology, the ring topology lends itself to being able to transmitinformation over greater distances.

[0133] A LAN using a star topology is illustrated in FIG. 1y where acentral full image scanner 6058 is connected to full image scanners6054, 6056, 6060, and 6062. The central full image scanner communicatesto other networks through an interface 6052. An advantage to the startopology is enhanced network management. Because all traffic passes thecentral full image scanner 6058, traffic monitoring is simple anddetailed network reports are easy to produce. Enhanced security isinherently a part of this type of topology since the central unit cankeep tables of user access rights as well as acceptable passwords. Also,the network can easily control who logs onto any remote device presenton the network.

[0134] Referring now to FIG. 1u, there is illustrated another imageprocessing network according to the present invention. An outsideaccounting system 6036 communicates with front end processor (FEP) 6038.The FEP 6038 is a software programmable controller that relieves theoutside accounting system 6036 of many networking and datacommunications tasks. The FEP polls devices, performs error checking andrecovery, character code translation, and dynamic buffer control. TheFEP also serves as a data concentrator concentrating several low speedtransmissions into a steady, high-speed flow of data. Full imagescanners 6040, 6044, and 6046 communicate with the FEP 6038 (and theoutside accounting system 6036) via cluster controller 6042. Clustercontroller 6042 serves as an interface between the outside accountingsystem 6036 and the scanners 6040, 6044, and 6046. The image processingdevice 6036 has a master/slave relationship with the scanners 6040,6044, and 6046 and polls, via FEP 6038, the devices and determines ifthey wish to communicate.

[0135] Another image processing network is described in connection withFIG. 1v. In this network, gateways are used to connect networks whichhave different network architectures. Gateways use all seven layers ofthe OSI model and perform protocol conversion functions at theApplication layer. An outside accounting system 6148 is coupled to FEP6150 a which is connected to a token-ring interface coupler (TIC)gateway 6150 b. TIC gateway 6150 b provides connections to token ringnetworks 6156, 6160, and 6164 which include other full image scanners.

[0136] The highest performance LAN gateway is the link between atoken-ring network 6156 and the image processing device's FEP 6105 a viathe TIC gateway 6150 b. The TIC 6150 b permits a 4 mbps or 16 mbpsconnection depending upon the hardware used. The TIC 6150 b is viewed bythe host as a cluster controller; the outside accounting system pollsthe TIC 6150 b which in turn polls any units on the token-ring network6156.

[0137] The network also contains a remote LAN gateway which functions asa gateway to another token ring LAN 6162. For example, the gateway 6161functions as a cluster controller and communicates with the FEP usingIBM's SDLC protocol via synchronous modems 6154 and 6155 at both sites.The synchronous modems 6154 and 6155 can dial up the FEP at speeds up to64 kbps.

[0138] Remote X.25 LANs (which use the X.25 packet switching protocoland contain full image scanners) can also communicate with the host viaX.25 gateways. A gateway 6151 with an adapter card functions as acluster controller and runs special gateway 6151 software that runs overa given protocol and communicates with the X.25 network. A local coaxialgateway 6160 is also provided which allows a workstation on the LAN toemulate a distributed function terminal (DFT) mode of processing.

[0139] It should be realized that the units connected to particulargateways are in no way limited to use with a particular gateway. Infact, the gateways and units can be interchanged and other types ofequipment can be used to structure the network as is known to thoseskilled in the art.

[0140] The communication panel 26 displays information to the user andaccepts user commands. The panel 26 consists of a video screen 50 ontowhich information to the user is displayed by the system and a keyboard52 for accepting commands from a user. As shown in FIG. 1c, thecommunications panel 26 can consist of a touch screen 27 or as shown inFIG. 1d, a combination of a touch screen 27 and keyboard 29. A slot 54is used for receiving a user's identification card. The user inserts thecard into the slot 54 to access the machine. The user deposits documentsinto bin 56. Loose currency is dispensed from slot 58, strapped currencyfrom receptacle 60, and loose or rolled coin at receptacle 62.

[0141] As shown in FIG. 1p, other modules can be added to the system. Asmart card acceptance module 63 is provided for accepting smart card. Asmart card dispensing module 65 is provided for dispensing smart cards.An optical reader module 67 is also provided for accepting anddispensing optical media.

[0142] An audio microphone 64 a and speaker 64 b allow two-waycommunication between the user and a central office, for example, with ateller at a bank's central office. Thus, during the operating hours of afinancial institution, bank personnel are connected to the system by theaudio microphone 64 a and speaker 64 b. The central office computer 15(which includes a video terminal) also receives and displays full videoimages of the documents from the system. If the documents are notrecognizable, the image is forwarded to the bank employee forobservation on the terminal. The bank employee could then discuss thedocument with the customer. In this case, the bank employee could decideto accept the document immediately for credit after reviewing the imageon the terminal. With a full image scan, enough information may havebeen scanned on an unrecognizable document that review by the bankemployee on the terminal will enable the bank employee to accuratelycall the value of the document. Additionally, the image of a documentmay be presented on a teller's monitor. By reviewing the data, theteller may be able to enter missing data via their keyboard, if theimage is recognizable. If the teller is near the machine and an image onthe monitor is unclear, the teller may remove the document from thescanner, inspect the document, and enter the missing data. The valuecould also be entered by the denomination keys and other information bya alphanumeric keypad, as described below, or with a mouse andapplications software. Additionally, the value could be entered by atouch screen device or by any combination of the input means describedabove. The document would then be placed in back of the outputreceptacle 20 and processing would continue. In some situations, thecustomer might enter the value or other information concerning theunidentified documents. This entry would be via the keyboard and creditwould be given to the customer's account only after the document isverified by bank personal. In other situations, the customer may merelyhold onto the document.

[0143] A mentioned previously, the system has a slot for the insertionof a customer identification card. Alternatively, the customer mightenter a PIN identification number through the keyboard. Afteridentification of the customer is determined, then the customer submitsa document (such as a check or savings account withdrawal slip) andimmediate payment to the customer is made.

[0144] The output receptacle 20 can be a single bin as shown in FIG. 1ainto which all documents transported by the transport mechanism 18 arestored. Alternatively, the output receptacle 20 can consist of dual binsas shown in FIG. 1e. In the case of dual bins, identifiable documentsare placed into the first bin and unidentifiable documents are placedinto the second bin. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 1f, any number ofoutput bins can be used to store the documents. For example, currency ofparticular denominations can be stored in separate bins. For example,one bin each can be used to store $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills.

[0145] As shown in FIG. 1g, the full image scanner can be used withoutthe discrimination unit with a single output receptacle. Alternatively,as shown in FIG. 1h, a full image scanner can be used in a systemwithout a discrimination unit with two output bins or receptacles.Finally, as shown in FIG. 1i, the full image scanner can be used in asystem without a discrimination unit in a system containing any numberof output bins.

[0146]FIG. 1o depicts an exterior perspective view and FIG. 1s is a sideview of a multi-pocket document processing system 5010 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. According to one embodiment thedocument processing system 5010 is compact having a height (H) of about17 ½ inches, width (W) of about 13 ½ inches, and a depth (D) of about 15inches. The evaluation device 5010 may be rested upon a tabletop.

[0147] In FIGS. 1o and 1 s, documents are fed, one by one, from a stackof documents placed in an input receptacle 5012 into a transportmechanism. The transport mechanism includes a transport plate or guideplate 5240 for guiding documents to one of a plurality of outputreceptacles 5217 a and 5217 b. Before reaching the output receptacles5217 a, 5217 b a document can be, for example, evaluated, analyzed,authenticated, discriminated, counted and/or otherwise processed by afull image scanning module. The results of the above process orprocesses may be used to determine to which output receptacle 5217 a,5217 b a document is directed. In one embodiment, documents such ascurrency bills are transported, scanned, and identified at a rate inexcess of 800 bills or documents per minute. In another embodiment,documents such as currency bills are transported, scanned, andidentified at a rate in excess of 1000 bills or documents per minute. Inthe case of currency bills, the identification includes thedetermination of the denomination of each bill.

[0148] The input receptacle 5012 for receiving a stack of documents; tobe processed is formed by downwardly sloping and converging walls 5205and 5206 (see FIG. 1s) formed by a pair of removable covers (not shown)which snap onto a frame. The converging wall 5206 supports a removablehopper (not shown) that includes vertically disposed side walls (notshown). One embodiment of an input receptacle is described andillustrated in more detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/450,505, filed May 26, 1995, entitled “Method and Apparatus forDiscriminating and Counting Documents” which is incorporated byreference in its entirety. The document processing system 5010 in FIG.1o has a touch panel display 5015 in one embodiment of the presentinvention which displays appropriate “functional” keys when appropriate.The touch panel display 5015 simplifies the operation of themulti-pocket document processing system 5010. Alternatively oradditionally physical keys or buttons may be employed.

[0149] From the input receptacle 5012, the documents are moved inseriatim from a bottom of the stack along a curved guideway 5211 (shownin FIG. 1s) which receives documents moving downwardly and rearwardlyand changes the direction of travel to a forward direction. Althoughshown as being fed from the bottom, the documents can be fed from thetop, front, or back of the stack. The type of feeding used could befriction feed, a vacuum feed, or any other method of feeding known tothose skilled in the art. A stripping wheel 5220 (shown in FIG. 1t)mounted on a stripping wheel shaft 5219 aids in feeding the documents tothe curved guideway 5211. The curvature of the guideway 5211 correspondssubstantially to the curved periphery of a drive roll 5223 so as to forma narrow passageway for the bills along the rear side of the drive roll5223. An exit end of the curved guideway 5211 directs the documents ontothe transport plate 5240 which carries the documents through anevaluation section and to one of the output receptacles 5217 a, 5217 b.

[0150] Stacking of the documents in one embodiment is accomplished by apair of driven stacking wheels 5212 a and 5213 a for the first or upperoutput receptacle 5217 a and by a pair of stacking wheels 5212 b and5213 b for the second or bottom output receptacle 5217 b. The stackerwheels 5212 a,b and 5213 a,b are supported for rotational movement aboutrespective shafts 5215 a,b journalled on a rigid frame and driven by amotor (not shown). Flexible blades of the stacker wheels 5212 a and 5213a deliver the documents onto a forward end of a stacker plate 5214 a.Similarly, the flexible blades of the stacker wheels 5212 b and 5213 bdeliver the bills onto a forward end of a stacker plate 5214 b

[0151] A diverter 5260 directs the documents to either the first orsecond output receptacle 5217 a, 5217 b. When the diverter is in a lowerposition, documents are directed to the first output receptacle 5217 a.When the diverter 5260 is in an upper position, documents proceed in thedirection of the second output receptacle 5217 b.

[0152]FIGS. 1j-l depict multi-pocket document processing system 5010,such as a currency discriminators, according to embodiments of thepresent invention. FIG. 1l depicts a three-pocket document processingsystem 5010. FIG. 1j depicts a four-pocket document processing system5010. FIG. 1k depicts a six-pocket document processing system 5010.

[0153] The multi-pocket document processing systems 5010 in FIG. j-lhave a transport mechanism which includes a transport plate or guideplate 5240 for guiding currency documents to one of a plurality ofoutput receptacles 5217. The transport plate 5240 according to oneembodiment is substantially flat and linear without any protrudingfeatures. Before reaching the output receptacles 5217, a document canbe, for example, evaluated, analyzed, authenticated, discriminated,counted and/or otherwise processed.

[0154] The multi-pocket document processing systems 5010 move thedocuments in seriatim from a bottom of the stack along the curvedguideway 5211 which receives documents moving downwardly and rearwardlyand changes the direction of travel to a forward direction. Althoughshown as being fed from the bottom, the documents can be fed from thetop, front, or back of the stack. An exit end of the curved guideway5211 directs the documents onto the transport plate 5240 which carriesthe documents through an evaluation section and to one of the outputreceptacles 5217. A plurality of diverters 5260 direct the documents tothe output receptacles 5217. When the diverter 5260 is in a lowerposition, documents are directed to the corresponding output receptacle5217. When the diverter 5260 is in an upper position, documents proceedin the direction of the remaining output receptacles.

[0155] The multi-pocket document processing systems 5010 of FIGS. 1j-laccording to one embodiment includes passive rolls 5250, 5251 which aremounted on an underside of the transport plate 5240 and are biased intocounter-rotating contact with their corresponding driven upper rolls5223 and 5241. Other embodiments include a plurality of follower plateswhich are substantially free from surface features and are substantiallysmooth like the transport plate 5240. The follower plates 5262 and 5278are positioned in spaced relation to transport plate 5240 so as todefine a currency pathway therebetween. In one embodiment, followerplates 5262 and 5278 have apertures only where necessary foraccommodation of passive rolls 5268, 5270, 5284, and 5286.

[0156] The follower plate, such as follower plate 5262, works inconjunction with the upper portion of the transport plate 5240 to guidea bill 5020 from the passive roll 5251 to a driven roll 5264 and then toa driven roll 5266. The passive rolls 5268, 5270 are biased by H-springsinto counter-rotating contact with the corresponding driven rolls 5264and 5266.

[0157] The general operation of the automated document processing systemis illustrated in FIG. 2. The user conducts a transaction at step 10 a.During the transaction step 10 a, the user places documents into theinput receptacle 16, the full image scanner 12 scans a full image of thedocuments, selected parts of the image are processed by the imagescanner 12, the discrimination and authentication unit 14 authenticatesthe document, and the document is placed in the output receptacle 20.During the transaction step 10 a, any interaction with personnel at acentral office, for example, with a bank teller, occurs. As previouslydescribed, the system may also include a smart card processing module,modules which accept and read all forms of magnetic and optical media,and modules which dispense smart cards and all forms of optical andmagnetic media.

[0158] An alarm condition may be generated during a transaction. At step10 b, the system determines whether an alarm condition is present. Ifthe answer is affirmative, then at step 10 c the system responds to thealarm condition. The response may be automatic or may require manualaction by the user. If the response is automatic, the system preferablyflashes a warning light, for example a 24 VAC external light driven by arelay. If the response required is manual, the user is required toperform some manual action and instructions of how to proceed may bedisplayed to the user on a user display screen, as described below.Alarm conditions occur when the user presses a help key; when a currencydispenser becomes empty; when more than a programmable predeterminedamount of foreign currency is detected; upon a system error condition;and when a bin is full. If the answer to step 10 b is negative or uponcompletion of step 10 c, operation continues at step 10 d.

[0159] After the alarm condition is tested or handled, the amountdeposited in the transaction is stored at step 10 d for later use. Thevalues are preferably stored in a computer memory Next, at step 10 e,the user or machine distributes the deposited amount stored in step 10d. Step 10 e is also described in greater detail below and can, forexample, consist of receiving the deposited amount in the form of bills,allocating it to a savings account, or receiving part of the depositback in bills and crediting the remainder to a bank savings account. Atstep 10 f, the user is given the choice of conducting a new transaction.If the answer is affirmative, the system returns to step 10 awhich isdescribed above. If the user answers in the negative, then the machinestops.

[0160] The full image scanner 12 is now described in detail. Inaccordance with the present invention, the image scanner may be of thetype disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,812 which is herein incorporatedby reference in its entirety. As shown in FIG. 3, the front and backsurfaces of the documents are scanned by scan heads 80 and 82 and theimages processed into video image data by electronic circuitry. The scanheads 80 and 82 are preferably charge coupled scanner arrays andgenerate a sequence of analog signals representing light and dark imagesdefining the image on the document. The scan heads 80 and 82 arearranged for simultaneously scanning both the front and back of thedocuments and are connected respectively to analog-to-digital converters84 and 86 which convert the analog values into discrete binary grayscale values of, for example, 256 gray scale levels. The scan heads arecapable of obtaining images of varying resolutions. The particularresolution chosen, which can be varied by the user, is selected basedupon the type of document being scanned, as is known in the art.

[0161] The high resolution gray scale image data from theanalog-to-digital converters 84 and 86 is directed to an image datapreprocessor 88 in which the data may be enhanced and smoothed and whichserves to locate the edges of successive documents and discardirrelevant data between documents. If the documents are slightly skewed,the image preprocessor 88 can also perform rotation on the image data tofacilitate subsequent processing.

[0162] The image data is monitored for unacceptable image quality byimage quality unit 90. For example, the image quality unit 90 andmonitors the distribution of gray scale values in the image data andcreate a histogram. As is well known in the art, acceptable qualityimages have a distribution of gray scale values within certainprescribed limits. If the gray scale distribution of the histogram fallsoutside these limits, this is indicative of poor image quality and anerror condition is generated.

[0163] The image data is transmitted from the quality unit 90 to theimage processor 92. As is known in the art, the optical scanners canadditionally scan specified fields on the faces of the document. Forexample, when processing checks, the scan head may search for the “$”symbol as a coordinate to the left of the numeric check amount fieldbox. As is known in the art, a straight coordinate system or dimensionsystem is used where known dimensions of the box are used to locate thefield. Also, when scanning currency, the system searches for the serialnumbers printed at defined locations which the image processor 92 canlocate. The processor 92 can be programmed to locate fields for varioustypes of currency and perform processing as follows. Based on scanningcertain areas on the currency or document, the processor 92 firstidentifies the type of currency, for example, U.S. bank notes. Then,based on the outcome of the previous step, certain fields of interestare located, and the information stored for use by the system. Theprocessor 92 may also compresses the image data, as is known in the art,in preparation for transmission to an outside location.

[0164] The amount of image data per document may vary depending upon thesize and nature of the document and the efficiency of the datacompression and reduction for that particular document. To insure thatno data is lost in the event that the volume of image data maytemporally exceed the transfer capacity of the high speed data channel,a prechannel buffer 94 interposed prior to the data channel, which isconnected to the controller 10. The capacity of the pre-channel buffer94 is continually monitored by the controller 10 so that appropriateaction may be taken if the buffer becomes overloaded. The compressedvideo image data is received by the controller 10 over a high-speed datachannel 96 and is initially routed to temporary storage. The imagebuffer is preferably of a size capable of storing the image data from atleast several batches or runs of checks or similar documents. Thecontroller 10 in the full image scanner performs the functions ofanalyzing the data. Alternatively, as discussed above, analysis of thedata can occur at the central office computer 15 or at a personalcomputer 11 attached to the system.

[0165] The personal computer or alternate means may be used to createimages of documents that are electronic images only, without scanningdocuments. For example, the EDGE system by Cummins-Allison corporationcould be used. In such a system, computer software electronicallycreates an image of a document such as a check. A special printer (notshown) is connected to the system to print documents with special fieldssuch as magnetic ink fields.

[0166] A plurality of document processing systems may be connected in a“hub and spokes” network architecture as is known in the art. In orderto prevent congestion, the image buffer on each document processingsystem stores data until polled by the central office computer oroutside accounting system. When polled, the data is uploaded to thecentral office computer or accounting system.

[0167] Other scanning modules and methods can be used in place or inaddition to the particular one described above. These include CCD arraysystems, multi-cell arrays and other well-known scanning techniques.Examples of these techniques and devices are described in U.S. Pat. No.5,023,782; U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,158; U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,750; and U.S.Pat. No. 4,205,780 all of which are incorporated by reference in theirentirety. The scanning module can also be a color image scanner such asthe type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,292 which is incorporated byreverence in its entirety.

[0168] The discrimination and authentication unit may contain a singleor multiple head scanner. Before explaining such a multiple headscanner, the operation of a scanner having a single scanhead is firstdescribed. In particular, a currency discrimination system adapted toU.S. currency is described in connection with FIGS. 4a-4 d.Subsequently, modifications to such a discrimination and authenticationunit will be described in obtaining a currency discrimination andauthentication unit in accordance with the present invention.Furthermore, while the embodiments of the discrimination andauthentication unit described below entail the scanning of currencybills, the discrimination and authentication unit of the presentinvention is applicable to other documents as well. For example, thesystem of the present invention may be employed in conjunction withstock certificates, checks, bonds, and postage and food stamps, and allother financial institution documents.

[0169] Referring now to FIG. 4a, there is shown a functional blockdiagram illustrating a currency discriminating unit having a singlescanhead. The unit 910 includes a bill accepting station 912 wherestacks of currency bills that need to be identified and counted arepositioned by the transport mechanism. Accepted bills are acted upon bya bill separating station 914 which functions to pick out or separateone bill at a time for being sequentially relayed by a bill transportmechanism 916, according to a precisely predetermined transport path,across scanhead 918 where the currency denomination of the bill isscanned and identified. Scanhead 918 is an optical scanhead that scansfor characteristic information from a scanned bill 917 which is used toidentify the denomination of the bill. The scanned bill 917 is thentransported to a bill stacking station 920 where bills so processed arestacked for subsequent removal.

[0170] The optical scanhead 918 of FIG. 4a comprises at least one lightsource 922 directing a beam of coherent light downwardly onto the billtransport path so as to illuminate a substantially rectangular lightstrip 924 upon a currency, bill 917 positioned on the transport pathbelow the scanhead 918. Light reflected off the illuminated strip 924 issensed by a photodetector 926 positioned directly above the strip. Theanalog output of photodetector 926 is converted into a digital signal bymeans of an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter unit 928 whose output isfed as a digital input to a central processing unit (CPU) 930.

[0171] While scanhead 918 of FIG. 4a is an optical scanhead, it shouldbe understood that it may be designed to detect a variety ofcharacteristic information from currency bills. Additionally, thescanhead may employ a variety of detection means such as magnetic,optical, electrical conductivity, and capacitive sensors. Use of suchsensors is discussed in more detail below, for example, in connectionwith FIG. 15.

[0172] Referring again to FIG. 4a, the bill transport path is defined insuch a way that the transport mechanism 916 moves currency bills withthe narrow dimension of the bills being parallel to the transport pathand the scan direction. Alternatively, the system 910 may be designed toscan bills along their long dimension or along a skewed dimension. As abill 917 moves on the transport path on the scanhead 918, the coherentlight strip 924 effectively scans the bill across the narrow dimensionof the bill. As depicted, the transport path is so arranged that acurrency bill 917 is scanned by scanhead 918 approximately about thecentral section of the bill along its narrow dimension, as shown in FIG.4a. The scanhead 918 functions to detect light reflected from the billas it moves across the illuminated light strip 924 and to provide ananalog representation of the variation in light so reflected which, inturn, represents the variation in the dark and light content of theprinted pattern or indicia on the surface of the bill. This variation inlight reflected from the narrow dimension scanning of the bills servesas a measure for distinguishing, with a high degree of confidence, amonga plurality of currency denominations which the discrimination unit ofthis invention is programmed to handle.

[0173] A series of such detected reflectance signals are obtained acrossthe narrow dimension of the bill, or across a selected segment thereof,and the resulting analog signals are digitized under control of the CPU930 to yield a fixed number of digital reflectance data samples. Thedata samples are then subjected to a digitizing process which includes anormalizing routine for processing the sampled data for improvedcorrelation and for smoothing out variations due to contrastfluctuations in the printed pattern existing on the bill surface. Thenormalized reflectance data so digitized represents a characteristicpattern that is fairly unique for a given bill denomination and providessufficient distinguishing features among characteristic patterns fordifferent currency denominations. This process is more fully explainedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/885,648, filed on May 19, 1992,now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 for a “Method and Apparatus forCurrency Discrimination and Counting,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

[0174] In order to ensure strict correspondence between reflectancesamples obtained by narrow dimension scanning of successive bills, theinitiation of the reflectance sampling process is preferably controlledthrough the CPU 930 by means of an optical encoder 932 which is linkedto the bill transport mechanism 916 and precisely tracks the physicalmovement of the bill 917 across the scanhead 918. More specifically, theoptical encoder 932 is linked to the rotary motion of the drive motorwhich generators the movement imparted to the bill as it is relayedalong the transport path. In addition, the mechanics of the feedmechanism (not shown, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 referred to above)ensure that positive contact is maintained between the bill and thetransport path, particularly when the bill is being scanned by scanhead918. Under these conditions, the optical encoder 932 is capable ofprecisely tracking the movement of the bill 917 relative to the lightstrip 924 generated by the scanhead 918 by monitoring the rotary motionof the drive motor.

[0175] The output of photodetector 926 is monitored by the CPU 930 toinitially detect the presence of the bill underneath the scanhead 918and, subsequently, to detect the starting point of the printed patternon the bill, as represented by the thin borderline 917A which typicallyencloses the printed indicia on currency bills. Once the borderline 917Ahas been detected, the optical encoder 932 is used to control the timingand number of reflectance samples that are obtained from the output ofthe photodetector 926 as the bill 917 moves across the scanhead 918 andis scanned along its narrow dimension.

[0176] The use of the optical encoder 932 for controlling the samplingprocess relative to the physical movement of a bill 917 across thescanhead 918 is also advantageous in that the encoder 932 can be used toprovide a predetermined delay following detection of the borderlineprior to initiation of samples. The encoder delay can be adjusted insuch a way that the bill 917 is scanned only across those segments alongits narrow dimension which contain the most distinguishable printedindicia relative to the different currency denominations.

[0177] In the case of U.S. currency, for instance, it has beendetermined that the central, approximately two-inch (approximately 5 cm)portion of currency bills, as scanned across the central section of thenarrow dimension of the bill, provides sufficient data fordistinguishing among the various U.S. currency denominations on thebasis of the correlation technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,106referred to above. Accordingly, the optical encoder can be used tocontrol the scanning process so that reflectance samples are taken for aset period of time and only after a certain period of time has elapsedsince the borderline 917A has been detected, thereby restricting thescanning to the desired central portion of the narrow dimension of thebill.

[0178]FIGS. 4b-4 d illustrate the scanning process of scanhead 920 inmore detail. Referring to FIG. 4b, as a bill 917 is advanced in adirection parallel to the narrow edges of the bill, scanning via a wideslit in the scanhead 918 is effected along a segment S of the centralportion of the bill 917. This segment S begins a fixed distance Dinboard of the borderline 917A. As the bill 917 traverses the scanhead918, a strip s of the segment S is always illuminated, and thephotodetector 926 produces a continuous output signal which isproportional to the intensity of the light reflected from the luminatedstrip s at any given instant. This output is sampled at intervalscontrolled by the encoder, so that the sampling intervals are preciselysynchronized with the movement of the bill across the scanhead 918.

[0179] As illustrated in FIGS. 4b and 4 d, it is preferred that thesampling intervals be selected so that the strips s that are illuminatedfor successive samples overlap one another. The odd-numbered andeven-numbered sample strips have been separated in FIGS. 4b and 4 d tomore clearly illustrate this overlap. For example, the first and secondstrips s1 and s2 overlap each other, the second and third strips s2 ands3 overlap each other, and so on. Each adjacent pair of strips overlapeach other. For U.S. currency, this is accomplished by sampling stripsthat are 0.050 inch (0.127 cm) wide at 0.029 inch (0.074 cm) intervals,along a segment S that is 1.83 inch (4.65 cm) long (64 samples).

[0180] The optical sensing and correlation technique is based upon usingthe above process to generate a series of stored intensity signalpatterns using genuine bills for each denomination of currency that isto be detected. According to one embodiment, two or four sets of masterintensity signal samples are generated and stored, within system memory,preferably in the form of an EPROM 934 (see FIG. 4a), for eachdetectable currency denomination. The sets of master intensity signalsamples for each bill are generated from optical scans, performed on thegreen surface of the bill and taken along both the “forward” and“reverse” directions relative to the pattern printed on the bill.Alternatively, the optical scanning may be performed on the black sideof U.S. currency bills or on either surface of bills from othercountries. Additionally, the optical scanning may be performed on bothsides of a bill, for example, by placing a scanhead on each side of thebill transport path as described in more detail in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/207,592 filed Mar. 8, 1994, for a “Method andApparatus for Currency Discriminations” now issued as U.S. Pat. No.5,467,406, and incorporated herein by reference.

[0181] In adapting this technique to U.S. currency, for example, sets ofstored intensity signal samples are generated and stored for sevendifferent denominations of U.S. currency, i.e., $1, $2, $5, $10, $20,$50 and $100. For bills which produce significant pattern changes whenshifted slightly to the left or right, such as the $2 and the $10 billin U.S. currency, it is preferred to store two patterns for each of the“forward” and “reverse” directions, each pair of patterns for the samedirection represent two scan areas that are slightly displaced from eachother along the long dimension of the bill. Accordingly, a set of anumber of different master characteristic patterns is stored within thesystem memory for subsequent correlation purposes. Once the masterpatterns have been stored, the pattern generated by scanning a billunder test is compared by the CPU 930 with each of the master patternsof stored intensity signal samples to generate, for each comparison, acorrelation number representing the extent of correlation, i.e.,similarity between corresponding ones of the plurality of data samples,for the sets of data being compared. In the case of checks, the systemcompares the image signature to a stored master signature or to anaccount number.

[0182] The CPU 930 is programmed to identify the denomination of thescanned bill as corresponding to the set of stored intensity signalsamples for which the correlation number resulting from patterncomparison is found to be the highest. In order to preclude thepossibility of mischaracterizing the denomination of a scanned bill, aswell as to reduce the possibility of spurious notes being identified asbelonging to a valid denomination, a bi-level threshold of correlationis used as the basis for making a “positive” call. Such a method isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 referred to above. If a “positive”call can not be made for a scanned bill, an error signal is generated.

[0183] Using the above sensing and correlation approach, the CPU 930 isprogrammed to count the number of bills belonging to a particularcurrency denomination as part of a given set of bills that have beenscanned for a given scan batch, and to determine the aggregate total ofthe currency amount represented by the bills scanned during a scanbatch. The CPU 930 is also linked to an output unit 936 (FIG. 4a) whichis adapted to provide a display of the number of bills counted, thebreakdown of the bills in terms of currency denomination, and theaggregate total of the currency value represented by counted bills. Theoutput unit 936 can also be adapted to provide a print-out of thedisplayed information in a desired format.

[0184] A procedure for scanning bills and generating characteristicpatterns is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 referred to above andincorporated by reference in its entirety and co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/243,807, filed on May 16, 1994 and entitled“Method and Apparatus for Currency Discrimination.”

[0185] The optical sensing and correlation technique described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,295,196 permits identification of pre-programmed currencydenominations with a high degree of accuracy and is based upon arelatively short processing time for digitizing sampled reflectancevalues and comparing them to the master characteristic patterns. Theapproach is used to scan currency bills, normalize the scanned data andgenerate master patterns in such a way that bill scans during operationhave a direct correspondence between compared sample points in portionsof the bills which possess the most distinguishable printed indicia. Arelatively low number of reflectance samples is required in order to beable to adequately distinguish among several currency denominations.

[0186] Now that a single scanhead currency scanner has been described inconnection with scanning U.S. currency, a currency discrimination unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.In particular, a discrimination unit that can accommodate bills, checks,or any financial institution document of non-uniform size and/or colorwill be described.

[0187] First of all, because currencies come in a variety of sizes,sensors are added to determine the size of a bill to be scanned. Thesesensors are placed upstream of the scanheads to be described below. Oneembodiment of size determining sensors is illustrated in FIG. 4e. Twoleading/trailing edge sensors 962 detect the leading and trailing edgesof a bill 964 as it passing along the transport path. These sensors inconjunction with the encoder 932 (FIG. 4a) may be used to determine thedimension of the bill along a direction parallel to the scan directionwhich in FIG. 4e is the narrow dimension (or width) of the bill 964.Additionally, two side edge sensors 966 are used to detect the dimensionof a bill 964 transverse to the scan direction which in FIG. 4e is thewide dimension (or length) of the bill 964. While the sensors 962 and966 of FIG. 4e are optical sensors, any means of determining the size ofa bill may be employed.

[0188] Once the size of a bill is determined, the potential identity ofthe bill is limited to those bills having the same size. Accordingly,the area to be scanned can be tailored to the area or areas best suitedfor identifying the denomination and country of origin of a bill havingthe measured dimensions.

[0189] Secondly, while the printed indicia on U.S. currency is enclosedwithin a thin borderline, the sensing of which may serve as a trigger tobegin scanning using a wider slit, most currencies of other currencysystems such as those from other countries do not have such aborderline. Thus the system described above may be modified to beginscanning relative to the edge of a bill for currencies lacking such aborderline. Referring to FIG. 4f, two leading edge detectors 968 areshown. The detection of the leading edge 969 of a bill 970 by leadingedge sensors 968 triggers scanning in an area a given distance away fromthe leading edge of the bill 970, e.g., D₁ or D₂, which may varydepending upon the preliminary indication of the identity of a billbased on the dimensions of a bill. Alternatively, the leading edge 969of a bill may be detected by one or more of the scanheads (to bedescribed below). Alternatively, the beginning of scanning may betriggered by positional information provided by the encoder 932 of FIG.4a, for example, in conjunction with the signals provided by sensors 962of FIG. 4e, thus eliminating the need for leading edge sensors 968.

[0190] However, when the initiation of scanning is triggered by thedetection of the leading edge of a bill, the chance that a scannedpattern will be offset relative to a corresponding master patternincreases. Offsets can result from the existence of manufacturingtolerances which permit the location of printed indicia of a document tovary relative to the edges of the document. For example, the printedindicia on U.S. bills may vary relative to the leading edge of a bill byas much as 50 mils which is 0.05 inches (1.27 mm). Thus when scanning istriggered relative to the edge of a bill (rather than the detection of acertain part of the printed indicia itself, such as the printedborderline of U.S. bills), a scanned pattern can be offset from acorresponding master pattern by one or more samples. Such offsets canlead to erroneous rejections of genuine bills due to poor correlationbetween scanned and master patterns. To compensate, overall scannedpatterns and master patterns can be shifted relative to each other asillustrated in FIGS. 5a and 5 b. More particularly, FIG. 5a illustratesa scanned pattern which is offset from a corresponding master pattern.FIG. 5b illustrates the same patterns after the scanned pattern isshifted relative to the master pattern, thereby increasing thecorrelation between the two patterns. Alternatively, instead of shiftingeither scanned patterns or master patterns, master patterns may bestored in memory corresponding to different offset amounts.

[0191] Thirdly, while it has been determined that the scanning of thecentral area on the green side of a U.S. bill (see segment S of FIG. 4c)provides sufficiently distinct patterns to enable discrimination amongthe plurality of U.S. denominations, the central area may not besuitable for bills originating in other countries. For example, forbills originating from Country 1, it may be determined that segment S₁(FIG. 4f) provides a more preferable area to be scanned, while segmentS₂ (FIG. 4f) is more preferable for bills originating from Country 2.Alternatively, in order to sufficiently discriminate among a given setof bills, it may be necessary to scan bills which are potentially fromsuch set along more than one segment, e.g., scanning a single bill alongboth S₁ and S₂.

[0192] To accommodate scanning in areas other than the central portionof a bill, multiple scanheads may be positioned next to each other. Oneembodiment of such a multiple scanhead system is depicted in FIG. 6.Multiple scanheads 972 a-c and 972 d-f are positioned next to each otheralong a direction lateral to the direction of bill movement. Such asystem permits a bill 974 to be scanned along different segments.Multiple scanheads 972 a-f are arranged on each side of the transportpath, thus permitting both sides of a bill 974 to be scanned.

[0193] Two-sided scanning may be used to permit bills to be fed into acurrency discrimination unit according to the present invention witheither side face up. An example of a two-sided scanhead arrangement isdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/207,592 filed on Mar.8, 1994 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,406 and incorporated herein byreference. Master patterns generated by scanning genuine bills may bestored for segments on one or both sides. In the case where masterpatterns are stored from the scanning of only one side of a genuinebill, the patterns retrieved by scanning both sides of a bill under testmay be compared to a master set of single-sided master patterns. In sucha case, a pattern retrieved from one side of a bill under test shouldmatch one of the stored master patterns, while a pattern retrieved fromthe other side of the bill under test should not match one of the masterpatterns. Alternatively, master patterns may be stored for both sides ofgenuine bills. In such a two-sided system, a pattern retrieved byscanning one side of a bill under test should match with one of themaster patterns of one side (Match 1) and a pattern retrieved fromscanning the opposite side of a bill under test should match the masterpattern associated with the opposite side of a genuine bill identifiedby Match 1.

[0194] Alternatively, in situations where the face orientation of a bill(i.e., whether a bill is “face up” or “face down”) may be determinedprior to or during characteristic pattern scanning, the number ofcomparisons may be reduced by limiting comparisons to patternscorresponding to the same side of a bill. That is, for example, when itis known that a bill is “face up”, scanned patterns associated withscanheads above the transport path need only be compared to masterpatterns generated by scanning the “face” of genuine bills. By “face” ofa bill it is meant a side which is designated as the front surface ofthe bill. For example, the front or “face” of a U.S. bill may bedesignated as the “black” surface while the back of a U.S. bill may bedesignated as the “green” surface. The face orientation may bedeterminable in some situations by sensing the color of the surfaces ofa bill. An alternative method of determining the face orientation ofU.S. bills by detecting the borderline on each side of a bill isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,406. The implementation of colorsensing is discussed in more detailed below.

[0195] According to the embodiment of FIG. 6, the bill transportmechanism operates in such a fashion that the central area C of a bill974 is transported between central scanheads 972 b and 972 e. Scanheads972 a and 972 c and likewise scanheads 972 d and 972 f are displaced thesame distance from central scanheads 972 b and 972 e, respectively. Bysymmetrically arranging the scanheads about the central region of abill, a bill may be scanned in either direction, e.g., top edge first(forward direction) or bottom edge first (reverse direction). Asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 4a, master patterns are stored fromthe scanning of genuine bills in both the forward and reversedirections. While a symmetrical arrangement is preferred, it is notessential provided appropriate master patterns are stored for anon-symmetrical system.

[0196] While FIG. 6 illustrates a system having three scanheads perside, any number of scanheads per side may be utilized. Likewise, it isnot necessary that there be a scanhead positioned over the centralregion of a bill. For example, FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment ofthe present invention capable of scanning the segments S₁ and S₂ of FIG.4f. Scanheads 976 a, 976 d, 976 e, and 976 h scan a bill 978 alongsegment S₁ while scanheads 976 b, 976 c, 976 f, and 976 g scan segmentS₂.

[0197]FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment of a scanning system accordingto the present invention having laterally moveable scanheads 980 a-b.Similar scanheads may be positioned on the opposite side of thetransport path. Moveable scanheads 980 a-b may provide more flexibilitythat may be desirable in certain scanning situations. Upon thedetermination of the dimensions of a bill as described in connectionwith FIG. 4e, a preliminary determination of the identity of a bill maybe made. Based on this preliminary determination, the moveable scanheads980 a-b may be positioned over the area of the bill which is mostappropriate for retrieving discrimination information. For example, ifbased on the size of a scanned bill, it is preliminarily determined thatthe bill is a Japanese 5000 Yen bill-type, and if it has been determinedthat a suitable characteristic pattern for a 5000 Yen bill-type isobtained by scanning a segment 2.0 cm to the left of center of the billfed in the forward direction, scanheads 980 a and 980 b may beappropriately positioned for scanning such a segment, e.g., scanhead 980a positioned 2.0 cm left of center and scanhead 980 b positioned 2.0 cmright of center. Such positioning permits proper discriminationregardless of the whether the scanned bill is being fed in the forwardor reverse direction. Likewise scanheads on the opposite side of thetransport path (not shown) could be appropriately positioned.Alternatively, a single moveable scanhead may be used on one or bothsides of the transport path. In such a systen, size and colorinformation (to be described in more detail below) may be used toproperly position a single laterally moveable scanhead, especially wherethe orientation of a bill may be determined before scanning.

[0198]FIG. 8, depicts a unit in which the transport mechanism isdesigned to deliver a bill 982 to be scanned centered within the area inwhich scanheads 980 a-b are located. Accordingly, scanheads 980 a-b aredesigned to move relative to the center of the transport path withscanhead 980 a being moveable within the range R₁ and scanhead 980 bbeing moveable within range R₂.

[0199]FIG. 9 depicts another embodiment of a scanning system accordingto the present invention wherein bills to be scanned are transported ina left justified manner along the transport path, that is wherein theleft edge L of a bill 984 is positioned in the same lateral locationrelative to the transport path. Based on the dimensions of the bill, theposition of the center of the bill may be determined and the scanheads986 a-b may in turn be positioned accordingly. As depicted in FIG. 9,scanhead 986 a has a range of motion R₃ and scanhead 986 b has a rangeof motion R₄. The ranges of motion of scanheads 986 a-b may beinfluenced by the range of dimensions of bills which the discriminationunit is designed to accommodate. Similar scanheads may be positioned onthe opposite side of the transport path.

[0200] Alternatively, the transport mechanism may be designed such thatscanned bills are not necessarily centered or justified along thelateral dimension of the transport path. Rather the design of thetransport mechanism may permit the position of bills to vary left andright within the lateral dimension of the transport path. In such acase, the edge sensors 966 of FIG. 4e may be used to locate the edgesand center of a bill, and thus provide positional information in amoveable scanhead system and selection criteria in a stationary scanheadsystem.

[0201] In addition to the stationary scanhead and moveable scanheadsystems described above, a hybrid system having both stationary andmoveable scanheads may be used. Likewise, it should be noted that thelaterally displaced scanheads described above need not lie along thesame lateral axis. That is, the scanheads may be, for example, staggeredupstream and downstream from each other FIG. 10 is a top view of astaggered scanhead arrangement according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. As illustrated in FIG. 10, a bill 130 is transportedin a centered manner along the transport path 132 so that the center 134of the bill 130 is aligned with the center 136 of the transport path 132Scanheads 140 a-h are arranged in a staggered manner so as to permitscanning of the entire width of the transport path 132. The areasilluminated by each scanhead are illustrated by strips 142 a, 142 b, 142e, and 142 f for scanheads 140 a, 140 b, 140 e, and 140 f, respectively.Based on size determination sensors, scanheads 140 a and 140 h mayeither not be activated or their output ignored.

[0202] In general, if prior to scanning a document, preliminaryinformation about a document can be obtained, such as its size or color,appropriately positioned stationary scanheads may be activated orlaterally moveable scanheads may be appropriately positioned providedthe preliminary information provides some indication as to the potentialidentity of the document. Alternatively, especially in systems havingscanheads positioned over a significant portion of the transport path,many or all of the scanheads of a system may be activated to scan adocument. Then subsequently, after some preliminary determination as toa document's identity has been made, only the output or derivationsthereof of appropriately located scanheads may be used to generatescanned patterns. Derivations of output signals include, for example,data samples stored in memory generated by sampling output signals.Under such an alternative embodiment, information enabling a preliminarydetermination as to a document's identity may be obtained by analyzinginformation either from sensors separate from the scanheads or from oneor more of the scanheads themselves. An advantage of such preliminarydeterminations is that the number of scanned patterns which have to begenerated or compared to a set of master patterns is reduced. Likewisethe number of master patterns to which scanned patterns must be comparedmay also be reduced.

[0203] While the scanheads 140 a-h of FIG. 10 are arranged in anon-overlapping manner, they may alternatively be arranged in anoverlapping manner. By providing additional lateral positions, anoverlapping scanhead arrangement may provide greater selectivity in thesegments to be scanned. This increase in scanable segments may bebeneficial in compensating for currency manufacturing tolerances whichresult in positional variances of the printed indicia on bills relativeto their edges. Additionally, in one embodiment, scanheads positionedabove the transport path are positioned upstream relative to theircorresponding scanheads positioned below the transport path.

[0204] In addition to size and scanned characteristic patterns, colormay also be used to discriminate bills. For example, while all U.S.bills are printed in the same colors, e.g., a green side and a blackside, bills from other countries often vary in color with thedenomination of the bill. For example, a German 50 deutsche markbill-type is brown in color while a German 100 deutsche mark bill-typeis blue in color. Alternatively, color detection may be used todetermine the face orientation of a bill, such as where the color ofeach side of a bill varies. For example, color detection may be used todetermine the face orientation of U.S. bills by detecting whether or notthe “green” side of a U.S. bill is facing upwards. Separate colorsensors may be added upstream of the scanheads described above.According to such an embodiment, color information may be used inaddition to size information to preliminarily identify a bill. Likewise,color information may be used to determine the face orientation of abill which determination may be used to select upper or lower scanheadsfor scanning a bill accordingly or compare scanned patterns retrievedfrom upper scanheads with a set of master patterns generated by scanninga corresponding face while the scanned patterns retrieved from the lowerscanheads are compared with a set of master patterns generated byscanning an opposing face. Alternatively, color sensing may beincorporated into the scanheads described above. Such color sensing maybe achieved by, for example, incorporating color filters, colored lightsources, and/or dichroic beamsplitters into the currency discriminationunit of the present invention. Various color information acquisitiontechniques are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,841,358; 4,658,289;4,716,456; 4,825,246; and 4,992,860.

[0205] The operation of the currency discrimination unit according toone embodiment of the present invention may be further understood byreferring to the flowchart of FIGS. 11a and 11 b. In the processbeginning at step 100, a bill is fed along a transport path (step 102)past sensors which measure the length and width of the bill (step 104).These size determining sensors may be, for example, those illustrated inFIG. 4e. Next at step 106, it is determined whether the measureddimensions of the bill match the dimensions of at least one bill storedin memory, such as EPROM 960 of FIG. 4e. If no match is found, anappropriate error is generated at step 108. If a match is found, thecolor of the bill is scanned for at step 110. At step 112 it isdetermined whether the color of the bill matches a color associated witha genuine bill having the dimensions measured at step 104. An error isgenerated at step 114 if no such match is found. However, if a match isfound, a preliminary set of potentially matching bills is generated atstep 116. Often, only one possible identity will exist for a bill havinga given color and dimensions. However, the preliminary set of step 116is not limited to the identification of a single bill-type, that is, aspecific denomination of a specific currency system; but rather, thepreliminary set may comprise a number of potential bill-types. Forexample, all U.S. bills have the same size and color. Therefore, thepreliminary set generated by scanning a U.S. $5 bill would include U.S.bills of all denominations.

[0206] Based on the preliminary set (step 116), selected scanheads in astationary scanhead system may be activated (step 118). For example, ifthe preliminary identification indicates that a bill being scanned hasthe color and dimensions of a German 100 deutsche mark, the scanheadsover regions associated with the scanning of an appropriate segment fora German 100 deutsche mark may be activated. Then upon detection of theleading edge of the bill by sensors 968 of FIG. 4f, the appropriatesegment may be scanned. Alternatively, all scanheads may be active withonly the scanning information from selected scanheads being processed.Alternatively, based on the preliminary identification of a bill (step116), moveable scanheads may be appropriately positioned (step 118).

[0207] Subsequently, the bill is scanned for a characteristic pattern(step 120). At step 122, the scanned patterns produced by the scanheadsare compared with the stored master patterns associated with genuinebills as dictated by the preliminary set. By only making comparisonswith master patterns of bills within the preliminary set, processingtime may be reduced. Thus for example, if the preliminary set indicatedthat the scanned bill could only possibly be a German 100 deutsche mark,then only the master pattern or patterns associated with a German 100deutsche mark need be compared to the scanned patterns. If no match isfound, an appropriate error is generated (step 124). If a scannedpattern does match an appropriate master pattern, the identity of thebill is accordingly indicated (step 126) and the process is ended (step128).

[0208] While some of the embodiments discussed above entailed a unitcapable of identifying a plurality of bill-types, the system may beadapted to identify a bill under test as either belonging to a specificbill-type or not. For example, the unit may be adapted to store masterinformation associated with only a single bill-type such as a UnitedKingdom 5 £ bill. Such a system would identify bills under test whichwere United Kingdom 5 £ bills and would reject all other bill-types.

[0209] The scanheads of the present invention may be incorporated intothe unit and used to identify a variety of documents including currencyand financial institution documents such as checks, deposit slips,coupons and food stamps. For example, the unit may be designed toaccommodate a number of currencies from different countries. Such a unitmay be designed to permit operation in a number of modes. For example,the unit may be designed to permit an operator to select one or more ofa plurality of bill-types which the system is designed to accommodate.Such a selection may be used to limit the number of master patterns withwhich scanned patterns are to be compared. Likewise, the operator may bepermitted to select the manner in which bills will be fed, such as allbills face up, all bills top edge first, random face orientation, and/orrandom top edge orientation. Additionally, the unit may be designed topermit output information to be displayed in a variety of formats to avariety of peripherals, such as a monitor, LCD display, or printer. Forexample, the unit may be designed to count the number of each specificbill-types identified and to tabulate the total amount of currencycounted for each of a plurality of currency systems. For example, astack of bills could be placed in the bill accepting station 912 of FIG.4a, and the output unit 936 of FIG. 4a may indicate that a total of 370British pounds and 650 German marks were counted. Alternatively, theoutput from scanning the same batch of bills may provide more detailedinformation about the specific denominations counted, for example one100 £ bill, five 50 £ bills, and one 20 £ bill and thirteen 50 deutschemark bills.

[0210]FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of a counterfeit detector 210. Amicroprocessor 212 controls the overall operation of the counterfeitdetector 210. It should be noted that the detailed construction of amechanism to convey documents through the counterfeit detector 210 isnot related to the practice of the present invention. Manyconfigurations are well-known in the prior art. An exemplaryconfiguration includes an arrangement of pulleys and rubber belts drivenby a single motor. An encoder 214 may be used to provide input to themicroprocessor 212 based on the position of a drive shaft 216, whichoperates the bill-conveying mechanism. The input from the encoder 214allows the microprocessor to calculate the position of a document as ittravels and to determine the timing of the operations of the counterfeitdetector 210.

[0211] A stack of documents (not shown) may be deposited in a hopper 218which holds the documents securely and allows the documents in the stackto be conveyed one at a time through the counterfeit detector 210. Afterthe documents are conveyed to the interior of the counterfeit detector210, a portion of the document is optically scanned by an optical sensor220 of the type commonly known in the art. The optical sensor generatessignals that correspond to the amount of light reflected by a smallportion of the document. Signals from the optical sensor 220 are sent toan amplifier circuit 222, which, in turn, sends an output to ananalog-to-digital converter 224. The output of the ADC is read by themicroprocessor 212. The microprocessor 212 stores each element of datafrom the optical sensor 220 in a range of memory locations in a randomaccess memory (“RAM”) 226, forming a set of image data that correspondsto the object scanned.

[0212] As the document continues its travel through the counterfeitdetector 210, it is passed adjacent to a magnetic sensor 228, whichdetects the presence of magnetic ink. The magnetic sensor 228 desirablymakes a plurality of measurements along a path parallel to one edge ofthe document being examined. For example, the path sensed by themagnetic sensor 228 may be parallel to the shorter edges of the documentand substantially through the document's center. The output signal fromthe magnetic sensor 228 is amplified by an amplifier circuit 230 anddigitized by the ADC 224. The digital value of each data point measuredby the magnetic sensor 228 is read by the microprocessor 212, whereuponit is stored in a range of memory in the RAM 226. The magnetic sensor228 is capable of reading and identifying all types of magnetic ink. Forinstance, the sensor 228 can read “low dispersion” magnetic inks onchecks. “Low dispersion” magnetic ink is magnetic ink mixed with colorink and used to print the background of checks as well as the name andaddress information on the check.

[0213] The digitized magnetic data may be mathematically manipulated tosimplify its use. For example, the value of all data points may besummed to yield a checksum, which may be used for subsequent comparisonto expected values computed from samples of genuine documents. As willbe apparent, calculation of a checksum for later comparison eliminatesthe need to account for the orientation of the document with respect tothe magnetic sensor 228 This is true because the checksum represents theconcentration of magnetic ink across the entire path scanned by themagnetic sensor 228, regardless of variations caused by higherconcentrations in certain regions of the document.

[0214] The image data stored in the RAM 226 is compared by themicroprocessor 212 to standard image data stored in a read only memory(“ROM”) 232. The stored image data corresponds to optical data generatedfrom genuine documents such as currency of a plurality of denominations.The ROM image data may represent various orientations of genuinecurrency to account for the possibility of a document in the stack beingin a reversed orientation compared to other documents in the stack. Ifthe image data generated by the document being evaluated does not fallwithin an acceptable limit of any of the images stored in ROM, thedocument is determined to be of an unknown denomination. The machinestops to allow removal of the document from the stack of currency.

[0215] If the image data from the document being evaluated correspondsto one of the images stored in the ROM 232, the microprocessor 212compares the checksum of the magnetic data to one of a plurality ofexpected checksum values stored in the ROM 232. An expected checksumvalue is stored for each denomination that is being counted. The valueof each expected checksum is determined, for example, by averaging themagnetic data from a number of genuine samples of each denomination ofinterest. If the value of the measured checksum is within apredetermined range of the expected checksum, the document is consideredto be genuine. If the checksum is not within the acceptable range, theoperator is signaled that the document is suspect and the operation ofthe counterfeit detector 210 is stopped to allow its retrieval.

[0216] If the document passes both the optical evaluation and themagnetic evaluation, it exits the counterfeit detector 210 to a stacker234. Furthermore, the counterfeit detector 210 may desirably include thecapability to maintain a running total of genuine documents, forexample, currency of each denomination.

[0217] It should be noted that the magnetic checksum is only compared tothe expected checksum for a single denomination (i.e. the denominationthat the optical data comparison has indicated). For instance, the onlyway in which a bill can be classified as genuine is if its magneticchecksum is within an acceptable range for its specific denomination.For a counterfeit bill to be considered genuine by the counterfeitdetector of the present invention, it would have to be within anacceptable range in the denomination-discriminating optical comparisonand have a distribution of magnetic ink within an acceptable range forits specific denomination.

[0218] To summarize the operation of the unit, a stack of documents, forexample, bills or checks, is fed by the transport mechanism (element 18in FIG. 1a) into the hopper 218. Each document is transported adjacentto the optical sensor 220, which generates image data corresponding toone side of the document. The document is also scanned by a magneticsensor 228 and a plurality of data points corresponding to the presenceof magnetic ink are recorded by the microprocessor 212. A checksum isgenerated by adding the total of all magnetic data points. The imagedata generated by the optical sensor 220 is compared to stored images,for example, images that correspond to a plurality of denominations ofcurrency. When predetermined information such as the denomination of thebill being evaluated has been determined, the checksum is compared to astored checksum corresponding to a genuine bill of that denomination.The microprocessor 212 generates a signal indicating that the documentis genuine or counterfeit depending on whether said data is within apredetermined range of the expected value. Documents exit thecounterfeit detector 210 and are accumulated in the stacker 234.

[0219]FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of an exemplary discrimination unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. At step 236, thepresence of a bill approaching the optical sensor 220 is detected by themicroprocessor 212, which initiates an optical scanning operation 238.Image data generated by the optical scanning operation are stored in RAM226. The number of optical samples taken is not critical to theoperation of the present invention, but the probability of accurateclassification of the denomination of a bill increases as the number ofsamples increases.

[0220] At step 240, the microprocessor 212 initiates the magneticscanning operation. The data points obtained by the magnetic scanningoperation may be stored in the RAM 226 and added together later to yielda checksum, as shown in step 244. Alternatively, the checksum may becalculated by keeping a running total of the magnetic data values byadding each newly acquired value to the previous total. As with theoptical scanning operation, the number of data points measured is notessential, but the chances of accurately identifying a counterfeit billbased on the concentration of magnetic ink improve as the number ofsamples increases. At step 242, the microprocessor determines thedenomination of the bill by comparing the image data to a plurality ofknown images, each of which corresponds to a specific denomination ofcurrency. The bill is identified as belonging to the denominationcorresponding to one of the known scan patterns if the correlationbetween the two is within an acceptable range. At step 246, the checksumresulting from the summation of the magnetic data points is compared toan expected value for a genuine bill of the denomination identified bythe comparison of the image data to the stored data.

[0221] The expected value may be determined in a variety of ways. Onemethod is to empirically measure the concentration of magnetic ink on asample of genuine bills and average the measured concentrations. Anothermethod is to program the microprocessor to periodically update theexpected value based on magnetic data measurements of bills evaluated bythe counterfeit detector over a period of time.

[0222] If the checksum of the bill being evaluated is within apredetermined range of the expected value, the bill is considered to begenuine. Otherwise, the bill is considered to be counterfeit. As will beapparent, the choice of an acceptable variation from the expectedchecksum determines the sensitivity of the counterfeit detector. If therange chosen is too narrow, the possibility that a genuine bill will beclassified as counterfeit is increased. On the other hand, thepossibility that a counterfeit bill will be classified as genuineincreases if the acceptable range is too broad.

[0223]FIG. 14 is a graphical representation of the magnetic data pointsgenerated by both a genuine pre-1996 series one hundred dollar bill(solid line) and a counterfeit one hundred dollar bill (broken line). Aspreviously noted, bills are desirably scanned along a path that isparallel to one of their short edges. The graph shown in FIG. 14 showsmagnetic data obtained by scanning a path passing approximately throughthe center of the bill. The measurements in the region designated “a”correspond to the area at the top of the bill. The area designated “b”corresponds to the central region of the bill and the region designated“c” corresponds to the bottom of the bill. The magnetic measurements forthe genuine bill are relatively high in region a because of the highconcentration of magnetic ink near the top of the bill. Theconcentration of magnetic ink in region b is relatively small and theconcentration in region c is generally between the concentrations inregions a and c.

[0224] It should be noted that the concentration of magnetic ink in atypical counterfeit bill is uniformly low. Thus, the sum of the all datapoints for a counterfeit bill is generally significantly lower than fora genuine bill. Nonetheless, as counterfeiting techniques become moresophisticated, the correlation between genuine bills and counterfeitshas improved.

[0225] The unit described above increases the chances of identifying acounterfeit bill because the denomination of a bill being evaluated isdetermined prior to the evaluation of the bill for genuineness. Thechecksum of the bill being evaluated is only compared to the expectedchecksum for a bill of that denomination. The process of identifying thedenomination of the bill prior to evaluating it for genuinenessminimizes the chance that a “good” counterfeit will generate a checksumindicative of a genuine bill of any denomination.

[0226] Referring next to FIG. 15, there is shown a functional blockdiagram illustrating one embodiment of a discrimination andauthentication unit similar to that depicted in FIG. 4a but illustratingthe presence of a second detector. The discrimination and authenticationunit 250 includes a bill accepting station 252 where stacks of currencybills that need to be identified, authenticated, and counted arepositioned. Accepted bills are acted upon by a bill separating station254 which functions to pick out or separate one bill at a time for beingsequentially relayed by a bill transport mechanism 256, according to aprecisely predetermined transport path, across two scanheads 260 and 262where the currency denomination of the bill is identified and thegenuineness of the bill is authenticated. In the embodiment depicted,the scanhead 260 is an optical scanhead that scans for a first type ofcharacteristic information from a scanned bill 257 which is used toidentify the bill's denomination. The second scanhead 262 scans for asecond type of characteristic information from the scanned bill 257.While in the illustrated embodiment scanheads 260 and 262 are separateand distinct, it is understood that these may be incorporated into asingle scanhead. For example, where the first characteristic sensed isintensity of reflected light and the second characteristic sensed iscolor, a single optical scanhead having a plurality of detectors, one ormore without filters and one or more with colored filters, may beemployed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,860 incorporated herein by reference). Thescanned bill is then transported to a bill stacking station 264 wherebills so processed are stacked for subsequent removal.

[0227] The optical scanhead 260 of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 15comprises at least one light source 266 directing a beam of coherentlight downwardly onto the bill transport path so as to illuminate asubstantially rectangular light strip 258 upon a currency bill 257positioned on the transport path below the scanhead 260. Light reflectedoff the illuminated strip 258 is sensed by a photodetector 268positioned directly above the strip. The analog output of thephotodetector 268 is converted into a digital signal by means of ananalog-to-digital (ADC) converter unit 270 whose output is fed as adigital input to a central processing unit (CPU) 272.

[0228] The second scanhead 262 comprises at least one detector 274 forsensing a second type of characteristic information from a bill. Theanalog output of the detector 274 is converted into a digital signal bymeans of a second analog to digital converter 276 whose output is alsofed as a digital input to the central processing unit (CPU) 272.

[0229] While scanhead 260 in the embodiment of FIG. 15 is an opticalscanhead, it should be understood that the first and second scanheads260 and 262 may be designed to detect a variety of characteristicinformation from currency bills. Additionally these scanheads may employa variety of detection means such as magnetic or optical sensors. Forexample, a variety of currency characteristics can be measured usingmagnetic sensing. These include detection of patterns of changes inmagnetic flux (U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,974), patterns of vertical grid linesin the portrait area of bills (U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,629), the presence ofa security thread (U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,607), total amount ofmagnetizable material of a bill (U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,458), patterns fromsensing the strength of magnetic fields along a bill (U.S. Pat. No.4,593,184), and other patterns and counts from scanning differentportions of the bill such as the area in which the denomination iswritten out (U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,473).

[0230] With regard to optical sensing, a variety of currencycharacteristics can be measured such as detection of density (U.S. Pat.No. 4,381,447), color (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,490,846; 3,496,370; 3,480,785),length and thickness (U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,651), the presence of asecurity thread (U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,607) and holes (U.S. Pat. No.4,381,447), and other patterns of reflectance and transmission (U.S.Pat. Nos. 3,496,370, 3,679,314; 3,870,629; 4,179,685). Color detectiontechniques may employ color filters, colored lamps, and/or dichroicbeamsplitters (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,841,358; 4,658,289; 4,716,456;4,825,246, 4,992,860 and EP 325,364). An optical sensing system usingultraviolet light is described in the assignee's co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/317,349, filed Oct. 4, 1994, and incorporatedherein by reference, and described below.

[0231] In addition to magnetic and optical sensing, other techniques ofdetecting characteristic information of currency include electricalconductivity sensing, capacitive sensing (U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,754[watermark, security thread]; 3,764,899 [thickness]; 3,815,021[dielectric properties]; 5,151,607 [security thread]), and mechanicalsensing (U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,447 [limpness]; 4,255,651 [thickness]).

[0232] Referring again to FIG. 15, the bill transport path is defined insuch a way that the transport mechanism 256 moves currency bills withthe narrow dimension of the bills parallel to the transport path and thescan direction. Alternatively, the system 250 may be designed to scanbills along their long dimension or along a skewed dimension. As a bill257 moves on the transport path on the scanhead 260, the coherent lightstrip 258 effectively scans the bill across the narrow dimension of thebill. In the embodiment depicted, the transport path is so arranged thata currency bill 257 is scanned by scanhead 260 approximately about thecentral section of the bill along its narrow dimension, as best shown inFIG. 15. The scanhead 260 functions to detect light reflected from thebill as it moves across the illuminated light strip 258 and to providean analog representation of the variation in light so reflected which,in turn, represents the variation in the dark and light content of theprinted pattern or indicia on the surface of the bill. This variation inlight reflected from the narrow dimension scanning of the bills servesas a measure for distinguishing, with a high degree of confidence, amonga plurality of currency denominations which the discrimination andauthentication unit of this invention is programmed to handle.

[0233] A series of such detected reflectance signals are obtained acrossthe narrow dimension of the bill, or across a selected segment thereof,and the resulting analog signals are digitized under control of the CPU272 to yield a fixed number of digital reflectance data samples. Thedata samples are then subjected to a digitizing process which includes anormalizing routine for processing the sampled data for improvedcorrelation and for smoothing out variations due to “contrast”fluctuations in the printed pattern existing on the bill surface. Thenormalized reflectance data so digitized represents a characteristicpattern that is fairly unique for a given bill denomination and providessufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns fordifferent currency denominations. This process is more fully explainedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/885,648, filed on May 19, 1992,now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 for “Method and Apparatus forCurrency Discrimination and Counting,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

[0234] In order to ensure strict correspondence between reflectancesamples obtained by narrow dimension scanning of successive bills, theinitiation of the reflectance sampling process is preferably controlledthrough the CPU 272 by means of an optical encoder 278 which is linkedto the bill transport mechanism 256 and precisely tracks the physicalmovement of the bill 257 across the scanheads 260 and 262. Morespecifically, the optical encoder 278 is linked to the rotary motion ofthe drive motor which generates the movement imparted to the bill as itis relayed along the transport path. In addition, the mechanics of thefeed mechanism (not shown, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 referred toabove) ensure that positive contact is maintained between the bill andthe transport path, particularly when the bill is being scanned byscanheads 260 and 262. Under these conditions, the optical encoder 278is capable of precisely tracking the movement of the bill 257 relativeto the light strip 258 generated by the scanhead 260 by monitoring therotary motion of the drive motor.

[0235] The output of photodetector 268 is monitored by the CPU 272 toinitially detect the presence of the bill underneath the scanhead 260and, subsequently, to detect the starting point of the printed patternon the bill, as represented by the thin borderline 257 a which typicallyencloses the printed indicia on currency bills. Once the borderline 257a has been detected, the optical encoder 278 is used to control thetiming and number of reflectance samples that are obtained from theoutput of the photodetector 268 as the bill 257 moves across thescanhead 260 and is scanned along its narrow dimension.

[0236] The detection of the borderline 257 a serves as an absolutereference point for initiation of sampling. If the edge of a bill wereto be used as a reference point, relative displacement of samplingpoints can occur because of the random manner in which the distance fromthe edge to the borderline 257 a varies from bill to bill due to therelatively large range of tolerances permitted during printing andcutting of currency bills. As a result, it becomes difficult toestablish direct correspondence between sample points in successive billscans and the discrimination efficiency is adversely affected.Embodiments triggering off the edge of the bill are discussed above, forexample, in connection with FIGS. 5a and 5 b.

[0237] The use of the optical encoder 278 for controlling the samplingprocess relative to the physical movement of a bill 257 across thescanhead 260 is also advantageous in that the encoder 278 can be used toprovide a predetermined delay following detection of the borderlineprior to initiation of samples. The encoder delay can be adjusted insuch a way that the bill 257 is scanned only across those segments alongits narrow dimension which contain the most distinguishable printedindicia relative to the different currency denominations.

[0238] The optical sensing and correlation technique are similar to thatdescribed in connection with FIG. 4a and the description made inconnection with FIG. 4a is applicable to FIG. 5.

[0239] As a result of the first comparison described above based on thereflected light intensity information retrieved by scanhead 260, the CPU272 will have either determined the denomination of the scanned bill 257or determined that the first scanned signal samples fail to sufficientlycorrelate with any of the sets of stored intensity signal samples inwhich case an error is generated. Provided that an error has not beengenerated as a result of this first comparison based on reflected lightintensity characteristics, a second comparison is performed. This secondcomparison is performed based on a second type of characteristicinformation, such as alternate reflected light properties, similarreflected light properties at alternate locations of a bill, lighttransmissivity properties, various magnetic properties of a bill, thepresence of a security thread embedded within a bill, the color of abill, the thickness or other dimension of a bill, etc. The second typeof characteristic information is retrieved from a scanned bill by thesecond scanhead 262. The scanning and processing by scanhead 262 may becontrolled in a manner similar to that described above with regard toscanhead 260.

[0240] In addition to the sets of stored first characteristicinformation, in this example stored intensity signal samples, the EPROM280 stores sets of stored second characteristic information for genuinebills of the different denominations which the system 250 is capable ofhandling. Based on the denomination indicated by the first comparison,the CPU 272 retrieves the set or sets of stored second characteristicdata for a genuine bill of the denomination so indicated and comparesthe retrieved information with the scanned second characteristicinformation. If sufficient correlation exists between the retrievedinformation and the scanned information, the CPU 272 verifies thegenuineness of the scanned bill 257. Otherwise, the CPU generates anerror. While the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15 depicts a single CPU272 for making comparisons of first and second characteristicinformation and a single EPROM 280 for storing first and secondcharacteristic information, it is understood that two or more CPUsand/or EPROMs could be used, including one CPU for making firstcharacteristic information comparisons and a second CPU for makingsecond characteristic information comparisons.

[0241] Using the above sensing and correlation approach, the CPU 272 isprogrammed to count the number of bills belonging to a particularcurrency denomination whose genuineness has been verified as part of agiven set of bills that have been scanned for a given scan batch, and todetermine the aggregate total of the currency amount represented by thebills scanned during a scan batch. The CPU 272 is also linked to anoutput unit 282 which is adapted to provide a display of the number ofgenuine bills counted, the breakdown of the bills in terms of currencydenomination, and the aggregate total of the currency value representedby counted bills The output unit 282 can also be adapted to provide aprint-out of the displayed information in a desired format.

[0242] The interrelation between the use of the first and second type ofcharacteristic information can be seen by considering FIGS. 16a and 16 bwhich comprise a flowchart illustrating the sequence of operationsinvolved in implementing a discrimination and authentication unitaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. Upon theinitiation of the sequence of operations (step 288), reflected lightintensity information is retrieved from a bill being scanned (step 290).Similarly, second characteristic information is also retrieved from thebill being scanned (step 292). Denomination error and secondcharacteristic error flags are cleared (steps 293 and 294).

[0243] Next the scanned intensity information is compared to each set ofstored intensity information corresponding to genuine bills of alldenominations the system is programmed to accommodate (step 298). Foreach denomination, a correlation number is calculated. The system then,based on the correlation numbers calculated, determines either thedenomination of the scanned bill or generates a denomination error bysetting the denomination error flag (steps 300 and 302). In the casewhere the denomination error flag is set (step 302), the process isended (step 312). Alternatively, if based on this first comparison, thesystem is able to determine the denomination of the scanned bill, thesystem proceeds to compare the scanned second characteristic informationwith the stored second characteristic information corresponding to thedenomination determined by the first comparison (step 304).

[0244] For example, if as a result of the first comparison the scannedbill is determined to be a $20 bill, the scanned second characteristicinformation is compared to the stored second characteristic informationcorresponding to a genuine $20 bill. In this manner, the system need notmake comparisons with stored second characteristic information for theother denominations the system is programmed to accommodate. If based onthis second comparison (step 304) it is determined that the scannedsecond characteristic information does not sufficiently match that ofthe stored second characteristic information (step 306), then a secondcharacteristic error is generated by setting the second characteristicerror flag (step 308) and the process is ended (step 312). If the secondcomparison results in a sufficient match between the scanned and storedsecond characteristic information (step 306), then the denomination ofthe scanned bill is indicated (step 310) and the process is ended (step312). TABLE 1 Sensitivity Denomination 1 2 3 4 5 $1 200 250 300 375 450$2 100 125 150 225 300 $5 200 250 300 350 400 $10 100 125 150 200 250$20 120 150 180 270 360 $50 200 250 300 375 450 $100 100 125 150 250 350

[0245] An example of an interrelationship between authentication basedon a first and second characteristic can be seen by considering Table 1.Table 1 depicts relative total magnetic content thresholds for variousdenominations of genuine bills. Columns 1-5 represent varying degrees ofsensitivity selectable by a user of a device employing the presentinvention. The values in Table 1 are set based on the scanning ofgenuine bills of varying denominations for total magnetic content andsetting required thresholds based on the degree of sensitivity selected.The information in Table 1 is based on the total magnetic content of agenuine $1 being 1000. The following discussion is based on asensitivity setting of 4. In this example it is assumed that magneticcontent represents the second characteristic tested. If the comparisonof first characteristic information, such as reflected light intensity,from a scanned billed and stored information corresponding to genuinebills results in an indication that the scanned bill is a $10denomination, then the total magnetic content of the scanned bill iscompared to the total magnetic content threshold of a genuine $10 bill,i.e., 200. If the magnetic content of the scanned bill is less than 200,the bill is rejected. Otherwise it is accepted as a $10 bill.

[0246] According to another feature of the present invention, thedoubling or overlapping of bills in the transport system is detected bythe provision of a pair of optical sensors which are co-linearlydisposed opposite to each other within the scan head area along a linethat is perpendicular to the direction of bill flow, i.e., parallel tothe edge of test bills along their wide dimensions as the bills aretransported across the optical scan head. The pair of optical sensors S1and S2 (not shown) are co-linearly disposed within the scan head area inclose parallelism with the wide dimension edges of incoming test bills.In effect, the optical sensors S1 and S2 (having corresponding lightsources and photodetectors—not shown) are disposed opposite each otheralong a line within the scan head area which is perpendicular to thedirection of bill flow. These sensors S1 and S2 serve as seconddetectors for detecting second characteristic information, namelydensity.

[0247] Although not illustrated in the drawings, it should be noted thatcorresponding photodetectors (not shown) are provided within thescanhead area in immediate opposition to the corresponding light sourcesand underneath the flat section of the transport path. These detectorsdetect the beam of coherent light directed downwardly onto the billtransport path from the light sources corresponding to the sensors S1and S2 and generate an analog output which corresponds to the sensedlight. Each such output is converted into a digital signal by aconventional ADC converter unit (not shown) whose output is fed as adigital input to and processed by the system CPU not shown), in a mannersimilar to that indicated in the arrangement of FIG. 15.

[0248] The presence of a bill which passes under the sensors S1 and S2causes a change in the intensity of the detected light, and thecorresponding change in the analog output of the detectors serves as aconvenient means for density-based measurements for detecting thepresence of “doubles” (two or more overlaid or overlapped bills) duringthe currency recognition and counting process. For instance, the sensorsmay be used to collect a predefined number of density measurements on atest bill, and the average density value for a bill may be compared topredetermined density thresholds (based, for instance, on standardizeddensity readings for master bills) to determine the presence of overlaidbills or doubles. The above sensors and doubles detection technique isdescribed in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 which isincorporated herein by reference.

[0249] A routine for using the outputs of the two sensors S1 and S2 todetect any doubling or overlapping of bills is illustrated in FIG. 17.This routine uses a determination of the denomination of a bill based onfirst characteristic information to streamline doubles detection whereinsecond characteristic information corresponds to the density of scannedbills. This routine starts when the denomination of a scanned bill hasbeen determined via comparing first characteristic information at step401, as described previously. To permit variations in the sensitivity ofthe density measurements a “density setting choice” is retrieved frommemory at step 402. The operator makes this choice manually, accordingto whether the bills being scanned are new bills, requiring a higherdegree of sensitivity, or used bills, requiring a lower level ofsensitivity. After the “density setting choice” has been retrieved, thesystem then proceeds through a series of steps which establish a densitycomparison value according to the denomination of the bill. Thus, step403 determines whether the bill has been identified as a $20-bill, andif the answer is affirmative, the $20-bill density comparison value isretrieved from memory at step 404. A negative answer at step 443advances the system to step 405 to determine whether the bill has beenidentified as a $100-bill, and if the answer is affirmative, the$100-bill density comparison value is retrieved from memory at step 406.A negative answer at step 405 advances the system to step 407 where ageneral density comparison value, for all remaining bill denominations,is retrieved from memory.

[0250] At step 408, the density comparison value retrieved at step 404,406 or 407 is compared to the average density represented by the outputof sensor S1. The result of this comparison is evaluated at step 409 todetermine whether the output of sensor S1 identifies a doubling of billsfor the particular denomination of bill determined at step 401. If theanswer is negative, the system returns to the main program. If theanswer is affirmative, step 410 then compares the retrieved densitycomparison value to the average density represented by the output of thesecond sensor S2. The result of this comparison is evaluated at step 411to determine whether the output of sensor S2 identifies a doubling ofbills. Affirmative answers at both step 409 and step 411 results in thesetting of a “doubles error” flag at step 412, and the system thenreturns to the main program. The above doubles detection routine isdescribed in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 which isincorporated herein by reference. While the routine described above usessecond characteristic information (density) to detect doubles, the aboveroutine may be modified to authenticate bills based on their density,for example in a manner similar to that described in connection withTable 1.

[0251] Referring now to FIGS. 18a-18 c, there is shown a side view ofone embodiment of a discrimination and authentication unit according tothe present invention, a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 18a alongthe direction 18B, and a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 18a alongthe direction 18C, respectively. An ultraviolet (“UV”) light source 422illuminates a document 424. Depending upon the characteristics of thedocument, ultraviolet light may be reflected off the document and/orfluorescent light may be emitted from the document. A detection system426 is positioned so as to receive any light reflected or emitted towardit but not to receive any UV light directly from the light source 422.The detection system 426 comprises a UV sensor 428, a fluorescencesensor 430, filters, and a plastic housing. The light source 422 and thedetection system 426 are both mounted to a printed circuit board 432.The document 424 is transported in the direction indicated by arrow A bya transport system (not shown). The document is transported over atransport plate 434 which has a rectangular opening 436 in it to permitpassage of light to and from the document. In one embodiment of thepresent invention, the rectangular opening 436 is 1.375 inches (3.493cm) by 0.375 inches (0.953 cm). To minimize dust accumulation onto thelight source 422 and the detection system 426 and to prevent documentjams, the opening 436 is covered with a transparent UV transmittingacrylic window 438. To further reduce dust accumulation, the UV lightsource 422 and the detection system 426 are completely enclosed within ahousing (not shown) comprising the transport plate 434.

[0252] Referring now to FIG. 19, there is shown a functional blockdiagram illustrating one embodiment of a discrimination andauthentication unit according to the present invention. FIG. 19 shows anUV sensor 442, a fluorescence sensor 444, and filters 446, 448 of adetection system such as the detection system 426 of FIG. 4a. Light fromthe document passes through the filters 446, 448 before striking thesensors 442, 444, respectively. An ultraviolet filter 446 filters outvisible light and permits UV light to be transmitted and hence to strikeUV sensor 442. Similarly, a visible light filter 448 filters out UVlight and permits visible light to be transmitted and hence to strikefluorescence sensor 444. Accordingly, UV light, which has a wavelengthbelow 400 nm, is prevented from striking the fluorescence sensor 444 andvisible light, which has a wavelength greater than 400 nm, is preventedfrom striking the UV sensor 442. In one embodiment the UV filter 446transmits light having a wavelength between about 260 nm and about 380nm and has a peak transmittance at 360 nm. In one embodiment, thevisible light filter 448 is a blue filter and preferably transmits lighthaving a wavelength between about 415 nm and about 620 nm and has a peaktransmittance at 450 nm. The above preferred blue filter comprises acombination of a blue component filter and a yellow component filter.The blue component filter transmits light having a wavelength betweenabout 320 nm and about 620 nm and has a peak transmittance at 450 nm.The yellow component filter transmits light having a wavelength betweenabout 415 nm and about 2800 nm. Examples of suitable filters are UG1 (UVfilter), BG23 (blue bandpass filter), and GG420 (yellow longpassfilter), all manufactured by Schott. In one embodiment the filters areabout 8 mm in diameter and about 1.5 mm thick.

[0253] The UV sensor 442 outputs an analog signal proportional to theamount of light incident thereon and this signal is amplified byamplifier 450 and fed to a microcontroller 452. Similarly, thefluorescence sensor 444 outputs an analog signal proportional to theamount of light incident thereon and this signal is amplified byamplifier 454 and fed to a microcontroller 452. Analog-to-digitalconverters 456 within the microcontroller 452 convert the signals fromthe amplifiers 450, 454 to digital and these digital signals areprocessed by the software of the microcontroller 452. The UV sensor 442may be, for example, an ultraviolet enhanced photodiode sensitive tolight having a wavelength of about 360 nm and the fluorescence sensor444 may be a blue enhanced photodiode sensitive to light having awavelength of about 450 nm. Such photodiodes are available from, forexample, Advanced Photonix, Inc., Massachusetts. The microcontroller 452may be, for example, a Motorola 68HC16.

[0254] The exact characteristics of the sensors 442, 444 and the filters446, 448 including the wavelength transmittance ranges of the abovefilters are not as critical to the present invention as the preventionof the fluorescence sensor from generating an output signal in responseto ultraviolet light and the ultraviolet sensor from generating, anoutput signal in response to visible light. For example, instead of, orin addition to, filters, a authentication system according to thepresent invention may employ an ultraviolet sensor which is notresponsive to light having a wavelength longer than 400 nm and/or afluorescence sensor which is not responsive to light having a wavelengthshorter than 400 nm.

[0255] Calibration potentiometers 458, 460 permit the gains ofamplifiers 450, 454 to be adjusted to appropriate levels. Calibrationmay be performed by positioning a piece of white fluorescent paper onthe transport plate 434 so that it completely covers the rectangularopening 436 of FIG. 4a. The potentiometers 458, 460 may then be adjustedso that the output of the amplifiers 450, 454 is 5 volts. Alternatively,calibration may be performed using genuine currency such as a piece ofgenuine U.S. currency. Potentiometers 458 and 460 may be replaced withelectronic potentiometers located, for example, within themicrocontroller 452. Such electronic potentiometers may permit automaticcalibration based on the processing of a single genuine document or aplurality of documents as will be described below.

[0256] The implementation of one embodiment of a discrimination andauthentication unit according to the present invention as illustrated inFIG. 19 with respect to the authentication of U.S. currency will now bedescribed. As discussed above, it has been determined that genuineUnited States currency reflects a high level of ultraviolet light anddoes not fluoresce under ultraviolet illumination. It has also beendetermined that under ultraviolet illumination counterfeit United Statescurrency exhibits one of the four sets of characteristics listed below:

[0257] 1) Reflects a low level of ultraviolet light and fluoresces;

[0258] 2) Reflects a low level of ultraviolet light and does notfluoresce;

[0259] 3) Reflects a high level of ultraviolet light and fluoresces;

[0260] 4) Reflects a high level of ultraviolet light and does notfluoresce.

[0261] Counterfeit bills in categories (1) and (2) may be detected by acurrency authenticator employing an ultraviolet light reflection testaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. Counterfeit billsin category (3) may be detected by a currency authenticator employingboth an ultraviolet reflection test and a fluorescence test according toanother embodiment of the present invention. Only counterfeits incategory (4) are not detected by the authenticating methods of thepresent invention.

[0262] According to one embodiment of the present invention,fluorescence is determined by any signal that is above the noise floor.Thus, the amplified fluorescent sensor signal 462 will be approximately0 volts for genuine U.S. currency and will vary between approximately 0and 5 volts for counterfeit bills depending upon their fluorescentcharacteristics. Accordingly, an authenticating system according to oneembodiment of the present invention will reject bills when signal 462exceeds approximately 0 volts.

[0263] According to one embodiment of the discrimination unit, a highlevel of reflected UV light (“high UV”) is indicated when the amplifiedUV sensor signal 464 is above a predetermined threshold. The high/low UVthreshold is a function of lamp intensity and reflectance. Lampintensity can degrade by as much as 50% over the life of the lamp andcan be further attenuated by dust accumulation on the lamp and thesensors. The problem of dust accumulation is mitigated by enclosing thelamp and sensors in a housing as discussed above. An authenticatingsystem according to one embodiment of the present invention tracks theintensity of the UV light source and readjusts the high/low thresholdaccordingly. The degradation of the UV light source may be compensatedfor by periodically feeding a genuine bill into the system, sampling theoutput of the UV sensor, and adjusting the threshold accordingly.Alternatively, degradation may be compensated for by periodicallysampling the output of the UV sensor when no bill is present in therectangular opening 436 of the transport plate 434. It is noted that acertain amount of UV light is always reflected off the acrylic window438. By periodically sampling the output of the UV sensor when no billis present, the system can compensate for light source degradation.Furthermore, such sampling could also be used to indicate to theoperator of the system when the ultraviolet light source has burned outor otherwise requires replacement. This may be accomplished, forexample, by means of a display reading or an illuminated light emittingdiode (“LED”). The amplified ultraviolet sensor signal 464 willinitially vary between 1.0 and 5.0 volts depending upon the UVreflectance characteristics of the document being scanned and willslowly drift downward as the light source degrades. In an alternativeembodiment to one embodiment wherein the threshold level is adjusted asthe light source degrades, the sampling of the UV sensor output may beused to adjust the gain of the amplifier 450 thereby maintaining theoutput of the amplifier 450 at its initial levels.

[0264] It has been found that the voltage ratio between counterfeit andgenuine U.S. bills varies from a discernible 2-to-1ratio to anon-discernible ratio. According to one embodiment of the presentinvention a 2-to-1 ratio is used to discriminate between genuine andcounterfeit bills. For example, if a genuine U.S. bill generates anamplified UV output sensor signal 464 of 4.0 volts, documents generatingan amplified UV output sensor signal 464 of 2.0 volts or less will berejected as counterfeit. As described above, this threshold of 2.0 voltsmay either be lowered as the light source degrades or the gain of theamplifier 450 may be adjusted so that 2.0 volts remains an appropriatethreshold value.

[0265] The determination of whether the level of UV reflected off adocument is high or low is made by sampling the output of the UV sensorat a number of intervals, averaging the readings, and comparing theaverage level with the predetermined high/low threshold. Alternatively,a comparison may be made by measuring the amount of UV light reflectedat a number of locations on the bill and comparing these measurementswith those obtained from genuine bills. Alternatively, the output of oneor more UV sensors may be processed to generate one or more patterns ofreflected UV light and these patterns may be compared to the patternsgenerated by genuine bills. Such a pattern generation and comparisontechnique may be performed by modifying an optical pattern techniquesuch as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 incorporated herein byreference in its entirety or in U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/287,882 filed Aug. 9, 1994 for a “Method and Apparatus for DocumentIdentification,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0266] The presence of fluorescence may be performed by sampling theoutput of the fluorescence sensor at a number of intervals. However, inone embodiment, a bill is rejected as counterfeit U.S. currency if anyof the sampled outputs rise above the noise floor. However, thealternative methods discussed above with respect to processing thesignal or signals of a UV sensor or sensors may also be employed,especially with respect to currencies of other countries or other typesof documents which may employ as security features certain locations orpatterns of fluorescent materials.

[0267] The present invention may include means, such as a display, toindicate to the operator the reasons why a document has been rejected,e.g., messages such as “UV FAILURE” or “FLUORESCENCE FAILURE.” Thepresent invention may also permit the operator to selectively choose toactivate or deactivate either the UV reflection test or the fluorescencetest or both. A currency authenticating system according to the presentinvention may also be provided with means for adjusting thesensitivities of the UV reflection and/or fluorescence test, forexample, by adjusting the respective thresholds. For example, in thecase of U.S. currency, a system according to the present invention maypermit the high/low threshold to be adjusted, for example, either inabsolute voltage terms or in genuine/suspect ratio terms.

[0268] The UV and fluorescence authentication test may be incorporatedinto various document handlers such as currency counters and/or currencydenomination discriminators such as that disclosed in connection withFIG. 15 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. Likewise, the magnetic authentication tests describedabove may likewise be incorporated in such counters and/ordiscriminators. In such systems, calibration may be performed byprocessing a stack of genuine documents. An example of a method ofcalibrating such a device will now be discussed.

[0269] As mentioned above, the acrylic window 438 reflects a certainamount of UV light even when no bill is present. The amount of UV lightreflected in the absence of bills is measured. A stack of genuine billsmay then be processed with the potentiometer 458 set to some arbitraryvalue and the resulting UV readings averaged. The difference between theaverage reading and the reading made in the absence of bills may then becalculated. The potentiometer 458 may then be adjusted so that theaverage reading would be at least 0.7 volts greater then the no billreading. It is also desirable to adjust the potentiometer 458 so thatthe amplifier 450 operates around the middle of its operating range. Forexample, if a reading of 1.0 volt results when no bills are present andan average reading of 3.0 volts results when a stack of genuine billsare processed, the resulting difference is 2.0 volts which is greaterthan 0.7 volts. However, it is desirable for the amplifier to beoperating in the range of about 2.0 to 2.5 volts and preferably at about2.0 volts. Thus in the above example, the potentiometer 458 may be usedto adjust the gain of the amplifier 450 so that an average reading of2.0 volts would result. Where potentiometer 458 is an electronicpotentiometer, the gain of the amplifier 450 may be automaticallyadjusted by the microcontroller 452. In general, when the averagereading is too high the potentiometer is adjusted to lower the resultingvalues to the center of the operating range of the amplifier and viceversa when the average reading is too low.

[0270] According to another embodiment of the present invention, theoperator of a document processing system is provided with the ability toadjust the sensitivity of a UV reflection test, a fluorescence test, anda magnetic test. For example a note counter embodying one embodiment ofthe present invention may provide the operator the ability to set theauthentication tests to a high or a low sensitivity For example, thenote counter may be provided with a set up mode which enables theoperator to adjust the sensitivities for each of the above tests forboth the high and the low modes. This may be achieved throughappropriate messages being displayed on, for example, display 282 ofFIG. 15 and the input of selection choices via an input device such as akeyboard or buttons. In one embodiment, the device permits the operatorto adjust the UV test, the fluorescent test, and the magnetic test in arange of sensitivities 1-7, with 7 being the most sensitive, or to turneach test off. The device permits setting the sensitivity as describedabove for the three authentication tests for both a low sensitivity (lowdenomination) mode and a high sensitivity (high denomination) mode. Theabove setting options are summarized in Table 2. TABLE 2 FluorescentTest Magnetic Test Mode UV Test Sensitivity Sensitivity Sensitivity Highoff, 1-7 off, 1-7 off, 1-7 Low off, 1-7 off, 1-7 off, 1-7

[0271] According to an alternate embodiment, the above high/low modesare replaced with denomination modes, for example, one for each ofseveral denominations of currency (ego., $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and$100). For each denomination, the sensitivity of the three tests may beadjusted between 1-7 or off. According to one embodiment for operatormanually selects either the high or low mode or the appropriatedenomination mode based on the values of the notes to be processed. Thismanual mode selection system may be employed in, for example, either anote counter or a currency denomination discriminator. According toanother embodiment the document processing system automatically selectseither the high or low mode or the appropriate denomination mode basedon the values of the notes being processed. This automatic modeselection system may be employed in systems capable of identifying thedifferent values or kinds of documents, for example, a currencydenomination discriminator.

[0272] Accordingly, in the low mode or for low denomination modes (e.g.,$1, $2) the three tests may be set to relatively low sensitivities(e.g., UV test set at 2, fluorescent test set at 5, and magnetic testset at 3). Conversely, in the high mode or for high denomination modes(e.g., $50, $100) the three tests may be set to relatively highsensitivities (e.g. UV test set at 5, fluorescent test set at 6, andmagnetic test set at 7). In this way, authentication sensitivity may beincreased when processing high value notes where the potential harm orrisk in not detecting a counterfeit may be greater and may be decreasedwhen processing low value notes where the potential harm or risk in notdetecting a counterfeit is lesser and the annoyance of wrongly rejectinggenuine notes is greater. Also, the UV, fluorescent, and/or magneticcharacteristics of genuine notes can vary due to number of factors suchwear and tear or whether the note has been washed (e.g., detergents). Asa result, the fluorescent detection of genuine U.S. currency, forexample, may yield readings of about 0.05 or 0.06 volts.

[0273] The UV and fluorescent thresholds associated with each of theseven sensitivity levels may be set, for example, as shown in Table 3.TABLE 3 Sensitivity Level UV Test (Volts) Fluorescent Test (Volts) 1 0.20.7 2 0.3 0.6 3 0.4 0.5 4 0.5 0.3 5 0.55 0.2 6 0.6 0.15 7 0.7 0.1

[0274] In performing the UV test according to one embodiment, the nobill reflectance value is subtracted from resulting UV reflectancevoltages associated with the scanning of a particular bill, and thisdifference is compared against the appropriate threshold value such asthose in Table 3 in determining whether to reject a bill.

[0275] According to one embodiment, the potentiometer 460 associatedwith the fluorescence detector 204 is calibrated by processing a genuinenote or stack of notes, as described above in connection with thecalibration of the UV detector, and adjusted so that a reading of near 0volts (e.g., about 0.1 volt) results. Magnetic calibration may beperformed, for example, manually in conjunction with the processing of agenuine bill of known magnetic characteristics and adjusting themagnetic sensor to near the center of its range.

[0276] Upon a bill failing one or more of the above tests, anappropriate error message may be displayed such as “Suspect DocumentU--” for failure of the UV reflection test, “Suspect Document -F-” forfailure of the fluorescent test, “Suspect Document --M” for failure ofthe magnetic test, or some combination thereof when more than one testis failed (e.g., “Suspect Document UF-” for failure of both the UVreflection test and the fluorescent test).

[0277] New security features are being added to U.S. currency beginningwith the 1996 series $100 bills. Subsequently, similar features will beadded to other U.S. denominations such as the $50 bill, $20 bill, etc.Some of the new security features include the incorporation into thebills of security threads that fluoresce under ultraviolet light. Forexample, the security threads in the 1996 series $100 bills emit a redglow when illuminated by ultraviolet. The color of light illuminatedfrom security threads under ultraviolet light will vary by denomination,for example, with the $100 notes emitting red light and the $50 notesemitting, for example, blue light or purple light.

[0278] Additionally, the location of the thread within the bill can beused as a security feature. For example, the security threads in all$100 bills are located in the same position. Furthermore, the locationof the security threads in other denominations will be the same bydenomination and will vary among several denomination. For example, thelocation of security threads in $10s, $20s, $50, and $100 may all bedistinct. Alternatively, the location may be the same in the $20s andthe $100s but different from the location of the security threads in the$50s.

[0279] The ultraviolet system described above in connection with FIGS.18 and 19 may be modified to take advantage of this feature. Referringto FIG. 20, a bill 330 is shown indicating three possible locations 332a-332 c for security threads in genuine bills depending on thedenomination of the bill. Fluorescent light detectors 334 a-334 c arepositioned over the possible acceptable locations of fluorescingsecurity threads. In systems designed to accept bills fed in either theforward or the reverse direction, identical detectors are positionedover the same locations on each half of the bill. For example, sensors334 c are positioned a distance d₅ to the left and right of the centerof the bill 330 Likewise, sensors 334 b are positioned a distance d₆ tothe left and right of the center of the bill 330 while sensors 334 a arepositioned a distance d₇ to the left and right of the center of the bill330. Additional sensors may be added to cover additional possible threadlocations.

[0280] These sensors may be designed to detect a particular color oflight depending on their location. For example, say location 332 bcorresponds to the location of security threads in genuine $100 billsand location 332 c corresponds to the location of security threads ingenuine $50 bills. Furthermore, if the security threads in $100 billsemit red light under ultraviolet light excitation and the securitythreads in $50 bills emit blue light under ultraviolet light excitation,then sensor 334 b may be particularly designed to detect red light andsensor 334 c may be designed to detect blue light. Such sensors mayemploy filters which pass red and blue light, respectfully, whilescreening out light of other frequencies. Accordingly, for example,sensor 334 b will respond to a security thread located at location 332 bthat emits red light under ultraviolet light excitation but not to asecurity thread at location 332 b that emits blue light.

[0281] Sensors 334 a-334 c may include separate sources of ultravioletlight or one or more separate ultraviolet light sources may be providedto illuminate the bill or portions of the bill, either on the same sideof the bill as the sensors or on the opposite side of the bill. Thesesensors may be arranged along the same axis or, alternatively, may bestaggered upstream and downstream relative to each other. These sensorsmay be arranged all on the same side of the bill or some on one side ofthe bill and some on the other. Alternatively, for one or more locations332 a-332 c sensors may be placed on both sides of the bill. This dualsided embodiment would be beneficial in detecting counterfeits made byapplying an appropriate fluorescing material on the surface of a bill.Alternatively, a combination of normal lighting and ultraviolet lightingmay be employed but at different times to detect for the presence of acolored line applied to the surface of a bill visible in normallighting. According to such an embodiment, no colored thread should bedetected under normal lighting and an appropriate colored thread in anappropriate position must be detected under ultraviolet lighting.

[0282] Additionally, the authentication technique described above inconnection with FIGS. 18 and 19 may be employed in areas where nofluorescing security threads might be located, for example, near thecenter of the bill, such that the detection of fluorescent light wouldindicate a counterfeit bill as would the absence of a high level ofreflected ultraviolet light.

[0283] Alternatively or additionally, sensors may be employed to detectbills or security threads printed or coated with thermochromic materials(materials that change color with a change in temperature. Examples ofthreads incorporating thermochromic materials are described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,465,301 incorporated herein by reference. For example, a securitythread may appear in one color at ambient temperatures under transmittedlight and may appear in a second color or appear colorless at or abovean activation temperature or vice versa. Alternatively, bills may beprinted and/or coated with such thermochromic materials. Such bills mayor may not include security threads and any included security threadsmay or may not also be printed or coated with thermochromatic materials.To detect for the proper characteristics of bills containing suchthermochromatic materials and/or containing threads employing suchthermochromic materials, the above described embodiments may be alteredto scan a bill at different temperatures. For example, a bill couldfirst be scanned at ambient temperatures, and then be transporteddownstream where the temperature of the bill is raised to or above anactivation temperature and scanned again at the higher temperature. Forexample, FIG. 20 could be modified to employ two sets of pairs ofsensors 334 a-c, one set downstream of the other with the downstreamsensors be located in a region where the temperature is evaluatedrelative to the temperature of the region where the first set of sensorsare located. A bill adjacent to the first and second sets of sensors 334a-c may be illuminated either with visible light or ultraviolet light(if the thermochromic material contains materials whose fluorescentcharacteristics alter with changes in temperature). Accordingly, thepresence of the appropriate color or absence of color may be detectedfor the different temperatures and the detected information may be usedto authenticate and/or denominate the bill.

[0284] The magnetic characteristics of 1996 series $100 bills alsoincorporate additional security features. Referring to FIG. 21, severalareas of the bill 340 are printed using magnetic ink, such as areas A-K.Additionally, in some areas the strength of the magnetic field isstronger than it is in areas A-K. These strong areas of magnetics areindicated, for example, at 344 a and 334 b. Some areas, such as area 346contain magnetic ink that is more easily detected by scanning the billalong one dimension of the bill than the other. For example, a strongmagnetic field is detected by scanning over area 346 in the long or widedimension of the bill 340 and a weak field is detected by scanning area346 in the narrow dimension of the bill 340. The remaining areas of thebill are printed with non-magnetic ink.

[0285] Some of these magnetic characteristics vary by denomination. Forexample, in a new series $50 note, areas A′, B′, C′, E′, F′, G′ and K′may be printed with magnetic ink and areas 354 a and 354 b may exhibiteven stronger magnetic characteristics. Accordingly, the non-magneticareas also vary relative to the $100 bill.

[0286] The use of magnetic ink in some areas of bills of onedenomination and in other areas of bills of other denominations isreferred to as magnetic zone printing. Additionally, magnetics areemploy as a security feature by using ink exhibiting magnetic propertiesin some areas and ink that does not exhibit magnetic properties inadjacent areas wherein both the ink exhibiting and the ink notexhibiting magnetic properties appear visually the same. For example,the upper left-hand numerical 100 appears visually to be printed withthe same ink. Nonetheless, the “10” are printed with ink not exhibitingmagnetic properties while the last “0” is printed with ink that doesexhibit magnetic properties. For example, see area F of FIG. 21.

[0287] Examples of arrangements of magnetic sensors that may be used todetect the above described magnetic characteristics are illustrated inFIGS. 23a, 23 b, and 24. Additionally, the arrangements described abovemay also be employed such as those depicted in FIGS. 4f, 6-10, 12, and15. FIGS. 23a and 23 b illustrate bills 360 and 361 being transportedpast magnetic sensors 364 a-d and 366 a-g in the narrow dimension of thebill. FIG. 24 illustrates bill 370 being transported past magneticsensors 374 a-c in the long dimension of the bill. Magnetic scanningusing these sensors may be performed in a manner similar to thatdescribed above in connection with optical scanning. For example, eachsensor may be used to generate a magnetically scanned pattern such asthat depicted in FIG. 14. Such patterns may be compared to stored mastermagnetic patterns. The scanning may be performed in conjunction withtiming signals provided by an encoder such as described above inconnection with optical scanning.

[0288] Alternatively, instead of generating scanned magnetic patterns,the presence or absence of magnetic ink in various areas may be detectedand compared the stored master information coinciding with several areaswhere magnetic ink is expected and not expected on genuine bills ofvarious denominations. For example, be detection of magnetic ink at areaF is be expected for a $100 bill but might not be for a $50 bill andvice versa for area F′. See FIGS. 21a and 21 b. Accordingly, thedetected magnetic information may be used to determine the denominationof a bill and/or to authenticate that a bill which has been determinedto have a given denomination using a different test, such as via acomparison of an optically scanned pattern with master optical patterns,has the magnetic properties expected for that given denomination. Timingsignals provided by an encoder such as described above in connectionwith optical scanning may be employed in detecting magneticcharacteristics of specific areas of bills.

[0289] Additionally, for magnetic properties that are the same for allbills, such as the presence or absence of magnetic ink in a givenlocation, such as the absence of magnetic ink in area 347 in FIGS. 21aand 21 b, may be used as a general test to authenticate whether a givenbill has the magnetic properties associated with genuine U.S. currency.

[0290] An example of scanning specific areas for the presence or absenceof magnetic ink and denominating or authenticating bills based thereonmay be under stood with reference to FIGS. 22a and 22 b. In FIGS. 22aand 22 b, areas M₁-M₁₅ are scanned for the presence or absence ofmagnetic ink. For a 1996 series $100 bill as indicated in FIG. 22a,magnetic ink should be present at areas M₂, M₃, M₅, M₇, M₁₂, and M₁₄ butnot for the other areas. For a new series $50 bill as indicated in FIG.22b, magnetic ink might be expected at areas M₁, M₆, M₈, M₉, and M₁₃ butnot for the other areas. Similarly for other denominations, magnetic inkwould be expected in some areas but not others. By magnetically scanninga bill at areas M₁-M₁₅ and comparing the results with master magneticinformation for each of several denominations, the denomination of thescanned billed may be determined. Alternatively, where the denominationof a bill has already be determined, the authenticity of the bill can beverified by magnetically scanning the bill at areas M₁-M₁₅ and comparingthe scanned information to the master information associated with thepredetermined denomination. If they sufficiently match, the bill passesthe authentication test.

[0291] Alternatively, magnetic sensors 364 a-d, 366 a-g, and 374 a-c maydetect the magnitude of magnetic fields at various locations of a billand perform bill authentication or denomination based thereon. Forexample, the strength of magnetic fields may be detected at areas J, 344a, and 348. See FIG. 21a. In a genuine $100 bill, no magnetic ink ispresent at area 348. One test to call a bill to be a $100 bill orauthenticate that a bill is a $100 bill would be to compare the relativelevels of magnetic field strength detected at these areas. For example,a bill may be determined genuine if a greater signal is generated byscanning area 344 a than area J which in turn is greater than for area348. Alternatively, generated signals may be compared against expectedratios, for example, that the signal for area 344 a is greater than 1.5times the signal for area J. Alternatively, the signals generated byscanning various locations may be compared to reference signalsassociated with genuine bills for those locations.

[0292] Another denominating or authenticating technique may beunderstood with reference to area 346 of FIG. 21a. It will be recalledthat for this area of a $100 bill a strong magnetic signal is generatedwhen this area is scanned in the long dimension of the bill and a weaksignal is generated when this area is scanned in the narrow dimension.Accordingly, the signals generated by sensors 364 and 374 for this areacan be compared to each other and/or to different threshold levels todetermine whether a particular bill being scanned has these properties.This information may be then used to assist in calling the denominationof the bill or authenticating a bill whose denomination has previouslybeen determined.

[0293] FIGS. 25-47 are flowcharts illustrating several methods for usingoptical, magnetic, and security thread information to denominate andauthenticate bills. These methods may be employed with the variouscharacteristic information detection techniques described aboveincluding, for example, those employing visible and ultraviolet lightand magnetics including, for example, those for detecting variouscharacteristics of security threads.

[0294]FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically determining the denomination of a bill. At step 500, a bill isoptically scanned and an optical pattern is generated. At step 502 thescanned optical pattern is compared to one or more stored master opticalpatterns. One or more master optical patterns are stored for eachdenomination that a system employing the method of FIG. 25 is designedto discriminate. At step 504 it is determined whether as a result of thecomparison of step 502 the scanned optical pattern sufficiently matchesone of the stored master optical patterns. For example, the comparisonof patterns may yield a correlation number for each of the stored masterpatterns. To sufficiently match a master pattern, it may be requiredthat the highest correlation number be greater than a threshold value.An example of such a pattern comparison method is described in moredetail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 incorporated herein by reference. Ifthe scanned pattern does not sufficiently match one of the stored masterpatterns, a no call code is generated at step 506. Otherwise, if thescanned pattern does sufficiently match one of the stored masterpatterns, the denomination associated with the matching master opticalpattern is indicated as the denomination of the scanned bill at step508.

[0295]FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indetermining the denomination of a bill based on the location of asecurity thread. At step 510, a bill is scanned for the presence of asecurity thread. The presence of a security thread may be detected usinga number of types of sensors such as optical sensors using transmittedand/or reflected light, magnetic sensors, and/or capacitive sensors.See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,151,607 and 5,122,754. If a thread isnot present as determined at step 512, a suspect code may be issued atstep 514. This suspect code may indicate that no thread was detected ifthis level of detail is desirable. The lack of the presence of a threadresulting in a suspect code is particularly useful when all bills to beprocessed are expected to have a security thread therein. In othersituations, the absence of a security thread may indicate that a scannedbill belongs to one or more denominations but not others. For example,assuming security threads are present in all genuine U.S. bills between$2 and $100 dollars, but not in genuine $1 bills, the absence of asecurity thread may be used to indicate that a scanned bill is a $1bill. According to one embodiment, where it is determined that nosecurity thread is present, a bill is preliminary indicated to be a $1bill. Preferably, some additional test is performed to confirm thedenomination of the bill such as the performance of the opticaldenominating methods described above in FIG. 25. The opticaldenominating steps may be performed before or after the thread locatingtest.

[0296] If at step 512 it is determined that a security thread ispresent, the location of the detected security thread is then comparedwith master thread locations associated with genuine bills at step 516.At step 518 it is determined whether as a result of the comparison atstep 516 the detected thread location matches one of the stored masterthread locations. If the detected thread location does not sufficientlymatch one of the stored master thread locations, an appropriate suspectcode is generated at step 520. This suspect code may indicate thatdetected thread was not in an acceptable location if such information isdesirable. Otherwise, if the detected thread location does sufficientlymatch one of the stored master thread locations, the denominationassociated with the matching master thread location is indicated as thedenomination of the scanned bill at step 522.

[0297]FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indetermining the denomination of a bill based on the fluorescent color ofa security thread. For example, as described above 1996 series $100bills contain security threads which emit red light when illuminatedwith ultraviolet light. At step 524, a bill is illuminated withultraviolet light. At step 526, the bill is scanned for the presence ofa security thread and color of any fluorescent light emitted by asecurity thread that is present. The presence of a security thread maybe detected as described above in connection with FIG. 26.Alternatively, the presence of a security thread may be detected beforethe bill is illuminated with ultraviolet light and scanned forfluorescent light. If a thread is not present as determined at step 528,an appropriate suspect code may be issued at step 530. Theconsiderations discussed above in connection with FIG. 26 concerninggenuine bills which do not contain security threads are applicable hereas well. If at step 528 it is determined that a security thread ispresent, the color of any fluorescent light emitted by the detectedsecurity thread is then compared with master thread fluorescent colorsassociated with genuine bills at step 532. If at step 532, the detectedthread fluorescent light does not match one of the stored master threadfluorescent colors, an appropriate suspect code is generated at step534. Otherwise, if the detected thread fluorescent color doessufficiently match one of the stored master thread fluorescent colors,the denomination associated with the matching master thread color isindicated as the denomination of the scanned bill at step 536. Thesensors used to detect fluorescent light may be designed only to respondto light corresponding to an appropriate master color. This may beaccomplished, for example, by employing light filters that permit onlylight having a frequency of a genuine color to reach a given sensor.Sensors such as those discussed in connection with FIGS. 18-20 may beemployed to detect appropriate fluorescent thread colors.

[0298]FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indetermining the denomination of a bill based on the location andfluorescent color of a security thread. FIG. 28 essentially combines thesteps of FIGS. 26 and 27. At step 540, the bill is scanned for thepresence, location, and fluorescent color of a security, thread. Thepresence of a security thread may be detected as described above inconnection with FIG. 26. If a thread is not present as determined atstep 542, an appropriate suspect code may be issued at step 544. Theconsiderations discussed above in connection with FIG. 26 concerninggenuine bills which do not contain security threads are applicable hereas well. If at step 542 it is determined that a security thread ispresent, the detected thread location is compared with master threadlocations at step 546. If the location of the detected thread does notmatch a master thread location, an appropriate suspect code may beissued at step 548. If the location of the detected thread does match amaster thread location, the scanned bill can be preliminary indicated tohave the denomination associated with the matching thread location atstep 550, Next at step 552 it is determined whether the color of anyfluorescent light emitted by the detected security thread matches themaster thread fluorescent color associated with a genuine bill of thedenomination indicated at step 550. If at step 552, the detected threadfluorescent light does not match the corresponding stored master threadfluorescent color for the preliminary indicated denomination, anappropriate suspect code is generated at step 554. Otherwise, if thedetected thread fluorescent color does sufficiently match the storedmaster thread fluorescent color for the preliminary indicateddenomination, at step 556 the scanned bill is indicated to be of thedenomination indicated at step 550.

[0299]FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inmagnetically determining the denomination of a bill. At step 558, a billis magnetically scanned and one or more magnetic patterns are generated.Alternatively, instead of generating magnetically scanned patterns, abill is magnetically scanned for the presence or absence of magnetic inkat one or more specific locations on the bill. Alternatively, instead ofsimply detecting whether magnetic ink is present at certain locations,the strength of magnetic fields may be measured at one or more locationson the bill. At step 560 the scanned magnetic information is compared tomaster magnetic information. One or more sets of master magneticinformation are stored for each denomination that a system employing themethods of FIG. 29 is designed to discriminate. For example, where oneor more scanned magnetic patterns are generated, such patterns arecompared to stored master magnetic patterns. Where, the presence orabsence of magnetic ink is detected at various locations on a bill, thisinformation is compared to the stored master magnetic information.associated with the expected presence and absence of magnetic inkcharacteristics at these various locations for one or more denominationsof genuine bills. Alternatively, measured field strength information canbe compared to master field strength information. At step 562 it isdetermined whether as a result of the comparison of step 560 the scannedmagnetic information sufficiently matches one of sets of stored mastermagnetic information. For example, the comparison of patterns may yielda correlation number for each of the stored master patterns. Tosufficiently match a master pattern, it may be required that the highestcorrelation number be greater than a threshold value. An example of sucha method as applied to optically generated patterns is described in moredetail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 incorporated herein by reference. Ifthe scanned magnetic information does not sufficiently match the storedmaster magnetic information, an appropriate suspect code is generated atstep 564. Otherwise, if the scanned magnetic information doessufficiently match one of the sets of stored master magneticinformation, the denomination associated with the matching set of mastermagnetic information is indicated as the denomination of the scannedbill at step 566.

[0300]FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically denominating a bill and authenticating the bill based onthread location and/or color information. At step 568, a bill isoptically denominated, for example, according to the methods describedabove in connection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination of the billis optically determined at step 568, the bill is then authenticatedbased on the location and/or color of the security thread in the bill atstep 570. The authentication step 570 may be performed, for example,according to the methods described in connection with FIGS. 26-28. Atstep 570, however, the detected thread location and/or color are onlycompared to master thread location and/or color information associatedwith the denomination determined in step 568. If the master threadlocation and/or color for the denomination indicated in step 568 match(step 572) the detected thread location and/or color for the bill undertest, the bill is accepted (at step 576) as being a bill having thedenomination determined in step 568. Otherwise, an appropriate suspectcode is issued at step 574.

[0301]FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill based on thread location and/or color informationand optically authenticating the bill. At step 578, a bill isdenominated based on thread location and/or color information, forexample, according to the methods described above in connection withFIGS. 26-28. Provided the denomination of the bill is determined at step578, the bill is then optically authenticated at step 580. The opticalauthentication step 580 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with FIG. 25. At step 580, however, thescanned optical pattern or information is only compared to masteroptical pattern or patterns or information associated with thedenomination determined in step 578. If the master optical pattern orpatterns or information for the denomination indicated in step 578 match(step 582) the scanned optical pattern or information for the bill undertest, the bill is accepted (at step 586) as being a bill having thedenomination determined in step 578. Otherwise, an appropriate suspectcode is issued at step 584.

[0302]FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inoptically denominating a bill and magnetically authenticating the bill.At step 588, a bill is optically denominated, for example, according tothe methods described above in connection with FIG. 25. Provided thedenomination of the bill is optically determined at step 588, the billis then magnetically authenticated at step 590. The magneticauthenticator step 590 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with in FIG. 29. At step 590, however,the detected magnetic information is only compared to master magneticinformation associated with the denomination determined in step 588. Ifthe master magnetic information for the denomination indicated in step588 matches (step 592) the detected magnetic information for the billunder test, the bill is accepted (at step 596) as being a bill havingthe denomination determined in step 588. Otherwise, an appropriatesuspect code is issued at step 594.

[0303]FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed inmagnetically denominating a bill and optically authenticating the bill.At step 598 a bill is magnetically denominated, for example, accordingto the methods described above in connection with FIG. 29. Provided thedenomination of the bill is magnetically determined at step 598, thebill is then optically authenticated at step 600. The opticalauthentication step 600 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with in FIG. 25. At step 600, however,the detected optical information (or pattern) is only compared to masteroptical information (or pattern or patterns) associated with thedenomination determined in step 598. If the master optical informationfor the denomination indicated in step 598 matches (step 602) thedetected optical information for the bill under test, the bill isaccepted (at step 606) as being a bill having the denominationdetermined in step 598. Otherwise, an appropriate suspect code is issuedat step 604.

[0304]FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill both optically and based on thread location and/orcolor information. At step 608, a bill is optically denominated, forexample, according to the methods described above in connection withFIG. 25. Provided the denomination of the bill is optically determinedat step 608, the bill is then denominated based on the location and/orcolor of the security thread in the bill at step 610. The denominatingstep 610 may be performed, for example, according to the methodsdescribed in connection with FIGS. 26-28. At step 610, the denominatingbased on detected thread location and/or color is performedindependently of the results of the optical denominating step 608. Atstep 612, the denomination as determined optically is compared with thedenomination as determined based on thread location and/or color. Ifboth optical and thread based denominating steps indicate the samedenomination, the bill is accepted (at step 616) as being a bill havingthe denomination determined in steps 608 and 610. Otherwise, anappropriate suspect code is issued at step 614. Alternatively, the orderof steps 608 and 610 may be reversed such that the bill is firstdenominated based on thread location and/or color and then opticallydenominated.

[0305]FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill both optically and magnetically. At step 618, a billis optically denominated, for example, according to the methodsdescribed above in connection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination ofthe bill is optically determined at step 618, the bill is thendenominated magnetically at step 620, for example, according to themethods described in connection with FIG. 29. At step 620, the magneticdenominating is performed independently of the results of the opticaldenominating step 618. At step 622, the denomination as determinedoptically is compared with the denomination as determined magnetically.If both optical and magnetic denominating steps indicate the samedenomination, the bill is accepted (at step 626) as being a bill havingthe denomination determined in steps 618 and 620. Otherwise, anappropriate suspect code is issued at step 624. Alternatively, the orderof steps 618 and 620 may be reversed such that the bill is firstmagnetically denominated and then optically denominated.

[0306]FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill both magnetically and based on thread locationand/or color information. At step 628, a bill is magneticallydenominated, for example, according to the methods described above inconnection with FIG. 29. Provided the denomination of the bill ismagnetically determined at step 628, the bill is then denominated basedon the location and/or color of the security thread in the bill at step630. The denominating step 630 may be performed, for example, accordingto the methods described in connection with FIGS. 26-28. At step 630,the denominating based on detected thread location and/or color isperformed independently of the results of the magnetic denominating step628. At step 632, the denomination as determined magnetically iscompared with the denomination as determined based on thread locationand/or color. If both magnetic and thread based denominating stepsindicate the same denomination, the bill is accepted (at step 636) asbeing a bill having the denomination determined in steps 628 and 630.Otherwise, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step 634.Alternatively, the order of steps 628 and 630 may be reversed such thatthe bill is first denominated based on thread location and/or color andthen magnetically denominated.

[0307]FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed indenominating a bill optically, based on thread location and/or colorinformation, and magnetically. At step 638, a bill is opticallydenominated, for example, according to the methods described above inconnection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination of the bill isoptically determined at step 638, the bill is then denominated based onthe location and/or color of the security thread in the bill at step640. The denominating step 640 may be performed, for example, accordingto the methods described in connection with FIGS. 26-28. At step 640,the denominating based on detected thread location and/or color isperformed independently of the results of the optical denominating step638. Provided the denomination of the bill is determined at step 640,the bill is then denominated magnetically at step 642, for example,according to the methods described in connection with FIG. 29. At step642, the magnetic denominating is performed independently of the resultsof the denominating steps 638 and 640. At step 644, the denominations asdetermined optically, magnetically, and based on thread location and/orcolor are compared. If all denominating steps 638-642 indicate the samedenomination, the bill is accepted (at step 648) as being a bill havingthe denomination determined in steps 638-642. Otherwise, an appropriatesuspect code is issued at step 646. Alternatively, the order of steps638-642 may be rearranged. For example, a bill may be first denominatedoptically, then be denominated magnetically, and finally be denominatedbased on thread location and/or color. Alternatively, a bill may befirst denominated magnetically, then be denominated optically, andfinally be denominated based on thread location and/or colorAlternatively, a bill may be first denominated magnetically, then bedenominated based on thread location and/or color, and finally bedenominated optically. Alternatively, a bill may be first denominatedbased on thread location and/or color, and then be denominatedmagnetically, and finally be denominated optically. Alternatively, abill may be first denominated based on thread location and/or color, andthen be denominated optically, and finally be denominated magnetically.

[0308]FIG. 38 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed in amethod whereby a bill is denominated based on a first characteristic,then authenticated based on a second characteristic, and if the bill isauthenticated, then the bill is denominated again based on the secondcharacteristic. According to the flowchart of FIG. 38, at step 650, abill is optically denominated, for example, according to the methodsdescribed above in connection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination ofthe bill is optically determined at step 650, the bill is thenmagnetically authenticated at step 652. The magnetic authentication step652 may be performed, for example, according to the methods described inconnection with in FIG. 29. At step 652, however, the detected magneticinformation is only compared to master magnetic information associatedwith the denomination determined in step 650. If the master magneticinformation for the denomination indicated in step 650 does notsufficiently match (step 654) the detected magnetic information for thebill under test, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step 656.Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (at step 658) but this timeusing magnetic information. If the magnetically determined denominationdoes not match (step 660) the optically determined denomination, anappropriate error code is issued at step 662. If the magneticallydetermined denomination does match (step 660) the optically determineddenomination, the denomination as determined at steps 650 and 658 isindicated as the denomination of the bill under test at step 664.

[0309] The method of FIG. 38 is advantageous in providing a high degreeof certainty in the determination of the denomination of a bill whileshortening processing time when a bill fails an earlier test. Forexample, at step 650 a bill is optically denominated. If the bill cannot be called as a specific denomination under the optical test, a nocall code is issued such as at step 506 in FIG. 25 and thedenominating/authenticating process ends with respect to the bill. Ifthe bill is successfully optically denominated, the bill is thenauthenticated based on magnetic information at step 652. Processing timeis saved at this step by comparing, the scanned magnetic information forthe bill under test only with master magnetic information associatedwith the denomination as determined optically at step 650. If thescanned magnetic information does not sufficiently match the mastermagnetic information for that denomination, an appropriate suspect codeis issued and the denominating/authenticating process ends with respectto the bill. If the bill successfully passes the authentication step654, the bill is then denominated using the magnetic information. Herethe scanned magnetic information is compared to master magneticinformation for a number of denominations. It is then determined whichdenomination is associated with the master magnetic information thatbest matches the scanned magnetic information and this denomination iscompared with the optically determined denomination to verify that theyagree. For example, a bill may be optically determined to be a $100bill. The magnetic information employed may be magnetic patterns similarto the optically generated patterns described above and in U.S. Pat. No.5,295,196. At step 652, the scanned magnetic pattern is correlatedagainst the master magnetic pattern or patterns associated with $100bills. Assume, for example, that a correlation value of at least 850 isrequired to pass the authentication test. If the scanned magneticpattern yields a correlation of 860 when compared to the master magneticpattern or patterns associated with $100 bills, the bill then passes theauthentication step 654. At this point, the bill is magneticallydenominated independently of the results of the optical denominatingstep 650. This step ensures that the best match magnetically matches thebest match optically. For example, if at step 658, the highestcorrelation is 860 which is associated with a $100 bill master magneticpattern, then the magnetic denominating and optical denominating stepsboth point to a $100 bill and accordingly, the bill is indicated to be a$100 bill at step 664. However, if the highest correlation is 900 whichis associated with a $20 bill master magnetic pattern, then theoptically determined denomination and the magnetically determineddenomination disagree and an appropriate error message is issued at step662.

[0310] The method of FIG. 38 may be particularly useful in denominatingand authenticating bills of higher denominations such as $20, $50, and$100 bills. The higher value of these notes may make it desirable toundertake the additional denominating steps 658-664. The method of FIG.38 could be modified so that if a bill were determined to be a $20, $50,or $100 at step 650 then the steps as indicated in FIG. 38 would befollowed. However, if a bill were determined to be a $1, $2, $5, or $10at step 650, then instead of magnetically denominating the bill at step658, the bill could be immediately accepted such as in FIG. 32.

[0311]FIG. 39 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed in amethod whereby a bill is denominated based on a first characteristic,then authenticated based on a second characteristic, and if the billfails the authentication test, then the bill is denominated again basedon the second characteristic. According to the flowchart of FIG. 39, atstep 666, a bill is optically denominated, for example, according to themethods described above in connection with FIG. 25. Provided thedenomination of the bill is optically determined at step 666, the billis then magnetically authenticated at step 668. The magneticauthentication step 668 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with in FIG. 29. At step 668, however,the detected magnetic information is only compared to master magneticinformation associated with the denomination determined in step 666. Ifthe master magnetic information for the denomination indicated in step666 matches (step 670) the detected magnetic information for the billunder test, the bill is indicated (at step 672) to have the denominationas determined at step 666. Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (atstep 674) but this time using magnetic information. If the detectedmagnetic information sufficiently matches (step 676) any of the storedmaster magnetic information, an appropriate error code is issued at step678. Because the bill failed the test at step 670, if the scannedmagnetic information matches any of the stored master magneticinformation, the matching master magnetic information will be associatedwith a denomination other than the denomination determined optically atstep 666. Accordingly, at step 678, the magnetically determineddenomination differs from the optically determined denomination and anappropriate error code may be generated such as a no call codeindicating that the optical and magnetic tests resulted in differentdenomination determinations thus preventing the system from calling thedenomination of the bill under test. Such an error might be indicativeof a situation where the bill under test is a genuine bill that had itsoptical or magnetic appearance altered, for example, where a genuine $1bill was changed so that it appeared optically at least in part to belike a higher denomination bill such as a $20 bill. If the detectedmagnetic information does not match (step 676) any of the stored mastermagnetic information, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step 680.The error code at step 680 may indicate that the scanned bill does notmatch magnetically any of the stored master magnetic informationassociated with genuine bills.

[0312] The method of FIG. 39 is advantageous in that processing time issaved where a bill is determined to be genuine after passing two tests.Furthermore, when a bill fails the test at step 670, an additional testis performed to better define the suspect qualities of a bill which isrejected.

[0313] In FIGS. 38 and 39 the first characteristic is opticalinformation and the second characteristic is magnetic information.Alternatively, the methods of FIGS. 38 and 39 may be performed withother combinations of characteristic information wherein the first andsecond characteristic information comprise a variety of characteristicinformation as described above such as magnetic, optical, color, andthread based information. Examples of such alternatives are discussedbelow in connection with FIGS. 40-44. Alternatively, the methods ofFIGS. 38 and 39 may be performed utilizing first characteristicinformation to denominate a bill, then using second characteristicinformation to authenticate the bill and finally denominating the billagain using third characteristic information. Again the variety ofcharacteristic information described above such as magnetic, optical,color, and thread based information may be employed in variouscombinations as first, second, and third characteristic information.

[0314]FIG. 40 is similar to FIG. 39 and is a flowchart illustrating thesteps performed in a method whereby a bill is denominated based on afirst characteristic, then authenticated based on a secondcharacteristic, and if the bill fails the authentication test, then thebill is denominated again based on the second characteristic. Accordingto the flowchart of FIG. 40, at step 682, a bill is denominated based onthread location and/or color, for example, according to the methodsdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 26-28. Provided thedenomination of the bill is determined at step 682, the bill is thenmagnetically authenticated at step 684. The magnetic authentication step684 may be performed, for example, according to the methods described inconnection with in FIG. 29. At step 684, however, the detected magneticinformation is only compared to master magnetic information associatedwith the denomination determined in step 682. If the master magneticinformation for the denomination indicated in step 682 matches (step686) the detected magnetic information for the bill under test, the billis accepted and indicated (at step 688) to have the denomination asdetermined at step 682. Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (atstep 690) but this time using magnetic information. If the detectedmagnetic information sufficiently matches (step 692) any of the storedmaster magnetic information, an appropriate error code is issued at step696. Because the bill failed the test at step 686, if the scannedmagnetic information matches any of the stored master magneticinformation, the matching master magnetic information will be associatedwith a denomination other than the denomination determined at step 682.Accordingly, at step 696, the magnetically determined denominationdiffers from the thread-based determined denomination and an appropriateerror code may be generated such as a no call code indicating that thethread-based and magnetic tests resulted in different denominationdeterminations thus preventing the system from calling the denominationof the bill under test. If the detected magnetic information does notmatch (step 692) any of the stored master magnetic information, anappropriate suspect code is issued at step 694. The error code at step694 may indicate that the scanned bill does not match magnetically anyof the stored master magnetic information associated with genuine bills.

[0315]FIG. 41 is also similar to FIG. 39 and is a flowchart illustratingthe steps performed in a method whereby a bill is denominated based on afirst characteristic, then authenticated based on a secondcharacteristic, and if the bill fails the authentication test, then thebill is denominated again based on the second characteristic. Accordingto the flowchart of FIG. 41, at step 698, a bill is opticallydenominated, for example, according to the methods described above inconnection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination of the bill isdetermined at step 698, the bill is then authenticated based on threadlocation and/or color at step 700. The authentication step 700 may beperformed, for example, according to the methods described in connectionwith in FIGS. 26-28. At step 700, however, the detected threadinformation is only compared to master thread information associatedwith the denomination determined in step 698. If the master threadinformation for the denomination indicated in step 698 matches (step702) the detected thread information for the bill under test, the billis accepted and indicated (at step 704) to have the denomination asdetermined at step 698. Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (atstep 706) but this time using thread information. If the detected threadinformation matches (step 708) any of the stored master threadinformation, an appropriate error code is issued at step 712. Becausethe bill failed the test at step 702, if the thread-based informationmatches any of the stored master thread information, the matching masterthread information will be associated with a denomination other than thedenomination determined at step 698. Accordingly, at step 712, thethread-based determined denomination differs from the opticallydetermined denomination and an appropriate error code may be generatedsuch as a no call code indicating that the thread-based and opticaltests resulted in different denomination determinations thus preventingthe system from calling the denomination of the bill under test. If thedetected thread information does not match (step 708) any of the storedmaster thread information, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step710. The error code at step 710 may indicate that the threadcharacteristics of the scanned bill does not match any of the storedmaster thread information associated with genuine bills.

[0316]FIG. 42 is also similar to FIG. 39 and is a flowchart illustratingthe steps performed in a method whereby a bill is denominated based on afirst characteristic, then authenticated based on a secondcharacteristic, and if the bill fails the authentication test, then thebill is denominated again based on the second characteristic. Accordingto the flowchart of FIG. 42, at step 714, a bill is magneticallydenominated, for example, according to the methods described above inconnection with FIG. 29. Provided the denomination of the bill isdetermined at step 714, the bill is then authenticated based on threadlocation and/or color at step 716. The authentication step 716 may beperformed, for example, according to the methods described in connectionwith in FIGS. 26-28. At step 716, however, the detected threadinformation is only compares to master thread information associatedwith the denomination determined in step 714. If the master threadinformation for the denomination indicated in step 714 matches (step718) the detected thread information for the bill under test, the billis accepted and indicated (at step 720) to have the denomination asdetermined at step 714. Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (atstep 722) but this time using thread information. If the detected threadinformation matches (step 724) any of the stored master threadinformation, an appropriate error code is issued at step 728. Becausethe bill failed the test at step 718, if the thread-based informationmatches any of the stored master thread information, the matching masterthread information will be associated with a denomination other than thedenomination determined at step 714. Accordingly, at step 728, thethread-based determined denomination differs from the magneticallydetermined denomination and an appropriate error code may be generatedsuch as a no call code indicating that the thread-based and magnetictests resulted in different denomination determinations thus preventingthe system from calling the denomination of the bill under test. If thedetected thread information does not match (step 724) any of the storedmaster thread information, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step726. The error code at step 726 may indicate that the threadcharacteristics of the scanned bill does not match any of the storedmaster thread information associated with genuine bills.

[0317]FIG. 43 is similar to FIG. 38 and is a flowchart illustrating thesteps performed in a method whereby a bill is denominated based on afirst characteristic then authenticated based on a secondcharacteristic, and if the bill is authenticated, then the bill isdenominated again based on the second characteristic. According to theflowchart of FIG. 43, at step 730, a bill is magnetically denominated,for example, according to the methods described above in connection withFIG. 29. Provided the denomination of the bill is magneticallydetermined at step 730, the bill is then optically authenticated at step732. The optical authentication step 732 may be performed, for example,according to the methods described in connection with in FIG. 25. Atstep 732, however, the detected optical information is only compared tomaster optical information associated with the denomination determinedin step 730. If the master optical information for the denominationindicated in step 730 does not sufficiently match (step 734) thedetected optical information for the bill under test, an appropriatesuspect code is issued at step 736. Otherwise, the bill is denominatedagain (at step 738) but this time using optical information. If theoptically determined denomination does not match (step 740) themagnetically determined denomination, an appropriate error code isissued at step 742. If the optically determined denomination does match(step 740) the magnetically determined denomination, the denomination asdetermined at steps 730 and 738 is indicated as the denomination of thebill under test at step 744.

[0318]FIG. 44 is also similar to FIG. 38 and is a flowchart illustratingthe steps performed in a method whereby a bill is denominated based on afirst characteristic, then authenticated based on a secondcharacteristic, and if the bill is authenticated, then the bill isdenominated again based on the second characteristic. According to theflowchart of FIG. 44, at step 746, a bill is denominated based on threadlocation and/or color, for example, according to the methods describedabove in connection with FIGS. 26-28. Provided the denomination of thebill is determined at step 746, the bill is then optically authenticatedat step 748. The optical authentication step 748 may be performed, forexample, according to the methods described in connection with in FIG.25. At step 748, however, the detected optical information is onlycompared to master optical information associated with the denominationdetermined in step 746. If the master optical information for thedenomination indicated in step 746 does not sufficiently match (step750) the detected optical information for the bill under test, anappropriate suspect code is issued at step 752. Otherwise, the bill isdenominated again (at step 754) but this time using optical information.If the optically determined denomination does not match (step 756) thethread-based determined denomination, an appropriate error code isissued at step 758. If the optically determined denomination does match(step 740) the thread-based determined denomination, the denomination asdetermined at steps 746 and 754 is indicated as the denomination of thebill under test at step 760.

[0319]FIGS. 45 and 46 illustrate methods where for a bill to be acceptedit is first denominated utilizing first characteristic information, thenauthenticated using second characteristic information, and finallyauthenticated again using third characteristic information.

[0320] According to the flowchart of FIG. 45, at step 762, a bill isoptically denominated, for example, according to the methods describedabove in connection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination of the billis optically determined at step 762, the bill is then magneticallyauthenticated at step 764. The magnetic authentication step 764 may beperformed, for example, according to the methods described in connectionwith in FIG. 29. At step 764, however, the detected magnetic informationis only compared to master magnetic information associated with thedenomination determined in step 762. If the master magnetic informationfor the denomination indicated in step 762 matches (step 766) thedetected magnetic information for the bill under test, the bill is thenauthenticated based on thread location and/or color at step 768. Theauthentication step 768 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with in FIGS. 26-28. At step 768,however, the detected thread information is only compared to masterthread information associated with the denomination determined in step762. If the master thread information for the denomination indicated instep 762 matches (step 770) the detected thread information for the billunder test, the bill is accepted and indicated (at step 772) to have thedenomination as determined at step 762. Otherwise, the bill isdenominated again (at step 774) but this time using thread information.If the detected thread information matches (step 776) any of the storedmaster thread information, an appropriate error code is issued at step778. Because the bill failed the test at step 770, if the thread-basedinformation matches any of the stored master thread information, thematching master thread information will be associated with adenomination other than the denomination determined at step 762.Accordingly, at step 778, the thread-based determined denominationdiffers from the optically determined denomination and an appropriateerror code may be generated such as a no call code indicating that thethread-based and optical tests resulted in different denominationdeterminations thus preventing the system from calling the denominationof the bill under test. If the detected thread information does notmatch (step 776) any of the stored master thread information, anappropriate suspect code is issued at step 780 The error code at step780 may indicate that the thread characteristics of the scanned billdoes not match any of the stored master thread information associatedwith genuine bills.

[0321] If at step 766 the master magnetic information for thedenomination indicated in step 762 does not match the detected magneticinformation for the bill under test, the bill is denominated again (atstep 782) but this time using magnetic information. If the detectedmagnetic information sufficiently matches (step 784) any of the storedmaster magnetic information, an appropriate error code is issued at step786. Because the bill failed the test at step 766, if the scannedmagnetic information matches any of the stored master magneticinformation, the matching master magnetic information will be associatedwith a denomination other than the denomination determined optically atstep 762. Accordingly, at step 786, the magnetically determineddenomination differs from the optically determined denomination and anappropriate error code may be generated such as a no call codeindicating that the optical and magnetic tests resulted in differentdenomination determinations thus preventing the system from calling thedenomination of the bill under test. If the detected magneticinformation does not match (step 784) any of the stored master magneticinformation, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step 788. Theerror code at step 788 may indicate that the scanned bill does not matchmagnetically any of the stored master magnetic information associatedwith genuine bills.

[0322] According to the flowchart of FIG. 46, at step 782, a bill isoptically denominated, for example, according to the methods describedabove in connection with FIG. 25. Provided the denomination of the billis determined at step 782, the bill is then authenticated based onthread location and/or color at step 784. The authentication step 784may be performed, for example, according to the methods described inconnection with in FIGS. 26-28. At step 784, however, the detectedthread information is only compared to master thread informationassociated with the denomination determined in step 782. If the masterthread information for the denomination indicated in step 782 matches(step 786) the detected thread information for the bill under test, thebill is then magnetically authenticated at step 788. The magneticauthentication step 788 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with in FIG. 29. At step 788, however,the detected magnetic information is only compared to master magneticinformation associated with the denomination determined in step 782. Ifthe master magnetic information for the denomination indicated in step782 matches (step 790) the detected magnetic information for the billunder test, the bill is indicated (at step 791) to have the denominationas determined at step 782. Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (atstep 792) but this time using magnetic information. If the detectedmagnetic information sufficiently matches (step 793) any of the storedmaster magnetic information, an appropriate error code is issued at step794. Because the bill failed the test at step 790, if the scannedmagnetic information matches any of the stored master magneticinformation, the matching master magnetic information will be associatedwith a denomination other than the denomination determined optically atstep 782. Accordingly, at step 794, the magnetically determineddenomination differs from the optically determined denomination and anappropriate error code may be generated such as a no call codeindicating that the optical and magnetic tests resulted in differentdenomination determinations thus preventing the system from calling thedenomination of the bill under test. If the detected magneticinformation does not match (step 793) any of the stored master magneticinformation, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step 795. Theerror code at step 795 may indicate that the scanned bill does not matchmagnetically any of the stored master magnetic information associatedwith genuine bills.

[0323] If at step 786 the master thread information for the denominationindicated in step 782 does not match the detected thread information forthe bill under test, the bill is denominated again (at step 796) butthis time using thread information. If the detected thread informationmatches (step 797) any of the stored master thread information, anappropriate error code is issued at step 798. Because the bill failedthe test at step 786, if the thread-based information matches any of thestored master thread information, the matching master thread informationwill be associated with a denomination other than the denominationdetermined at step 782. Accordingly, at step 798, the thread-baseddetermined denomination differs from the optically determineddenomination and an appropriate error code may be generated such as a nocall code indicating that the thread-based and optical tests resulted indifferent denomination determinations thus preventing the system fromcalling the denomination of the bill under test. If the detected threadinformation does not match (step 797) any of the stored master threadinformation, an appropriate suspect code is issued at step 799. Theerror code at step 799 may indicate that the thread characteristics ofthe scanned bill does not match any of the stored master threadinformation associated with genuine bills.

[0324]FIG. 47 illustrates a method where for a bill to be accepted it isfirst denominated utilizing first characteristic information, thenauthenticated using second characteristic information, then denominatedusing the second characteristic information, and finally authenticatedusing third characteristic information. According to the flowchart ofFIG. 47, at step 800, a bill is magnetically denominated, for example,according to the methods described above in connection with FIG. 29.Provided the denomination of the bill is magnetically determined at step800, the bill is then optically authenticated at step 802. The opticalauthentication step 802 may be performed, for example, according to themethods described in connection with in FIG. 25. At step 802, however,the detected optical information is only compared to master opticalinformation associated with the denomination determined in step 800. Ifthe master optical information for the denomination indicated in step800 does not sufficiently match (step 804) the detected opticalinformation for the bill under test, an appropriate suspect code isissued at step 806. Otherwise, the bill is denominated again (at step808) but this time using optical information. If the opticallydetermined denomination does not match (step 810) the magneticallydetermined denomination, an appropriate error code is issued at step812. If the optically determined denomination does match (step 810) themagnetically determined denomination, the bill is then authenticatedbased on thread location and/or color at step 814. The authenticationstep 814 may be performed, for example, according to the methodsdescribed in connection with in FIGS. 26-28. At step 814, however, thedetected thread information is only compared to master threadinformation associated with the denomination determined in step 800. Ifthe master thread information for the denomination indicated in step 800matches (step 816) the detected thread information for the bill undertest, the bill is accepted and indicated (at step 818) to have thedenomination as determined at step 800. Otherwise, the bill isdenominated again (at step 820) but this time using thread information.If the detected thread information matches (step 822) any of the storedmaster thread information, an appropriate error code is issued at step824. Because the bill failed the test at step 816, if the thread-basedinformation matches any of the stored master thread information thematching master thread information will be associated with adenomination other than the denomination determined at step 800.Accordingly, at step 824, the thread-based determined denominationdiffers from the magnetically determined denomination and an appropriateerror code may be generated such as a no call code indicating that thethread-based and magnetic tests resulted in different denominationdeterminations thus preventing the system from calling the denominationof the bill under test. If the detected thread information does notmatch (step 822) any of the stored master thread information, anappropriate suspect code is issued at step 826. The error code at step826 may indicate that the thread characteristics of the scanned billdoes not match any of the stored master thread information associatedwith genuine bills.

[0325] FIGS. 45-47 provide examples of combinations of characteristicinformation employed as first, second, and third characteristicinformation. Alternatively, the methods of FIGS. 45-47 may be performedwith other combinations of characteristic information wherein the first,second, and third characteristic information comprise a variety ofcharacteristic information as described above such as magnetic, optical,color, and thread based information.

[0326] In general, with respect to the methods described above inconnection with FIGS. 25-47, the decision whether to authenticate a billusing one or more tests and/or to denominate a bill two or more timesmay be based on the value of the note as determined during the initialdenominating step. For example, for a bill initially determined to be a$1 or $2 bill using a first denominating method, it may be desirable toimmediately accept the bill or perform one authentication test such asillustrated in FIGS. 25-36. For bills initially determined to be of someimmediate value such as $5 and $10 bills, it may be desirable to performa second denominating step and/or an authenticating step beforeaccepting the bill such as in FIGS. 34-36 and 38, and 43-44. For billsinitially determined to be of a high value such as $20, $50, and $100bills, it may be desirable to perform two, three, or more denominatingand/or authenticating steps such as in FIGS. 37 and 45-47.

[0327] Likewise, it may be desirable to perform additional denominatingand/or authenticating steps in unattended currency handling machinessuch as unattended redemption machines. Additional screening steps maybe desirable with these machines that accept money directly fromcustomers such as bank customers or casino patrons for credit to theiraccounts or denomination exchanges as opposed to machines employed inenvironments where an employee such as a bank teller or casino employeereceives money from customers and then the employee processes the billswith the aid of the currency machine.

[0328] The above described embodiments of sensors and methods may beemployed in currency discriminators such as, for example, thosedescribed above in connection with FIGS. 4a, 6-12, 15 or thediscriminator described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 incorporated hereinby reference.

[0329] The issuance of an error code such as a no call code or a suspectcode may be used to suspend processing of a stack of bills, for example,as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196 incorporated herein byreference. These codes may cause the operation of a single or multipleoutput pocket discriminator to be suspended such that the billtriggering one of these codes is the last bill delivered to an outputpocket before the operation of the system is suspended. Alternatively, arandom bill may trigger these codes, for example the second-to-lastbill. Accordingly, the triggering bill may be easily examined by theoperator of the system so that appropriate action may be taken based onthe operator's evaluation of the triggering bill. Alternatively, in amultiple output pocket system such as a two output pocket system, theissuance of one of these error codes may cause triggering bills to bediverted to a different output pocket such as a reject pocket.Alternatively, bills that result in a no call code may be diverted toone output pocket and those that result in a suspect code may bediverted to a different pocket. Accepted bills may be routed to one ormore other output pockets.

[0330] The operation of selection elements will now be described in moredetail in conjunction with FIG. 48a which is a front view of a controlpanel 1061 of one embodiment of the present invention. The control panel1061 comprises a keypad 1062 and a display section 1063 The keypad 1062comprises a plurality of keys including seven denomination selectionelements 1064 a-1064 g, each associated with one of seven U.S. currencydenominations, i.e., $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Alternatively,the keys may be for 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50

notes or any combination of foreign currency For document processingsystems, the denomination selection elements may be labeled according tothe currency system which a system is designed to handle andaccordingly, there may be more or less than seven denomination selectionelements. The $1 denomination selection key 64 a also serves as a modeselection key. It should be noted that the denomination selectionelements can be used to enter not only the value of currency, but alltypes of documents including checks. The keypad 1062 also comprises a“Continuation” selection element 1065. Various information such asinstructions, mode selection information, authentication anddiscrimination information, individual denomination counter values, andtotal batch counter value are communicated to the operator via an LCD1066 in the display section 1063. The full image processing unit and thediscrimination and authentication unit according to one embodiment ofthe present invention have a number of operating modes including a mixedmode, a stranger mode, a sort mode, a face mode, and a forward/reverseorientation mode.

[0331]FIG. 48b illustrates an alternate embodiment of the control panel1061. A set of numeric keys with a decimal point collectively labeled1064 h is engaged by the user to enter numeric data from all types ofdocuments. FIG. 48c illustrates a control panel 1061 with both numerickeys and decimal point 1064 h and denomination keys 1064 a-1064 f Theuser has the choice of entering the data by the denomination keys 1064a-1064 f or the numeric keys. The remaining elements of the controlpanels in FIGS. 48b and 48 c function as described above.

[0332] The operation of a document processing system having thedenomination selection elements 1064 a-1064 g and the continuationelement 1065 will now be discussed in connection with several operatingmodes.

[0333] (A) Mixed Mode

[0334] Mixed mode is designed to accept a stack of bills of mixeddenomination, total the aggregate value of all the bills in the stackand display the aggregate value in the display 1063. By “stack” it ismeant to not only include a single stack of bills, but multiple stacksas well. Information regarding the number of bills of each individualdenomination in a stack may also be stored in denomination counters.When an otherwise acceptable bill remains unidentified after passingthrough the system, operation of the system may be resumed and thecorresponding denomination counter and/or the aggregate value countermay be appropriately incremented by selecting the denomination selectionkey 1064 a-1064 g associated with the denomination of the unidentifiedbill. For example, if the system stops operation with an otherwiseacceptable $5 bill being the last bill deposited in the outputreceptacle, the operator may simply select key 64 b. When key 64 b isdepressed, the operation of the system is resumed and the $5denomination counter is incremented and/or the aggregate value counteris incremented by $5. Furthermore, the flagged bill may be routed fromthe inspection station to an appropriate output receptacle. Otherwise,if the operator determines the flagged bill is unacceptable, the billmay be removed from the output receptacle or the inspection station orthe flagged bill may be routed to the reject receptacle. Thecontinuation key 1065 is depressed after the unacceptable bill isremoved, and the system resumes operation without affecting the totalvalue counter and/or the individual denomination counters.

[0335] (B) Stranger Mode

[0336] Stranger mode is designed to accommodate a stack of bills allhaving the same denomination, such as a stack of $10 bills. In such amode, when a stack of bills is processed by the system the denominationof the first bill in the stack is determined and subsequent bills areflagged if they are not of the same denomination. Alternatively, thesystem may be designed to permit the operator to designate thedenomination against which bills will be evaluated with those of adifferent denomination being flagged. Assuming the first bill in a stackdetermines the relevant denominator and assuming the first bill is a $10bill, then provided all the bills in the stack are $10 bills, thedisplay 1063 will indicate the aggregate value of the bills in the stackand/or the number of $10 bills in the stack. However, if a bill having adenomination other than $10 is included in the stack, the system willstop operating with the non-$10 bill or “strange bill” being the lastbill deposited in the output receptacle in the case of the discriminatorsystem or the inspection station. The stranger bill may then be removedfrom the output receptacle and the system is started again eitherautomatically or by depression of the “Continuation” key 1065 dependingon the set up of the system. An unidentified but otherwise acceptable$10 bill may be handled in a manner similar to that described above inconnection with the mixed mode, e.g., by depressing the $10 denominationselection element 1064 c, or alternatively, the unidentified butotherwise acceptable $10 bill may be removed from the output receptacleand placed into the input hopper to be re-scanned. Upon the completionof processing the entire stack, the display 1063 will indicate aggregatevalue of the $10 bills in the stack and/or the number of $10 bills inthe stack. All bills having a denomination other than $10 will have beenset aside and will not be included in the totals. Alternatively, thesestranger bills can be included in the totals via operator selectionchoices. For example, if a $5 stranger bill is detected and flagged in astack of $10 bills, the operator may be prompted via the display as towhether the $5 bill should be incorporated into the running totals. Ifthe operator responds positively, the $5 bill is incorporated intoappropriate running totals, otherwise it is not. Alternatively, when thesystem stops on a stranger bill, such as a $5, the operator may depressthe denomination selection element associated with that denomination tocause the value of the stranger bill to be incorporated into the totals.Likewise for other types of flagged bills such as no calls.Alternatively, a set-up selection may be chosen whereby all strangerbills are automatically incorporated into appropriate running totals.

[0337] (C) Sort Mode

[0338] According to one embodiment, the sort mode is designed toaccommodate a stack of bills wherein the bills are separated bydenomination. For example, all the $1 bills may be placed at thebeginning of the stack, followed by all the $5 bills, followed by allthe S10 bills, etc. Alternatively, the sort mode may be used inconjunction with a stack of bills wherein the bills are mixed bydenomination. The operation of the sort mode is similar to that of thestranger mode except that after stopping upon the detection of adifferent denomination bill, the system is designed to resume operationupon removal of all bills from the output receptacle. Returning to theabove example, assuming the first bill in a stack determines therelevant denomination and assuming the first bill is a $1 bill, then thesystem processes the bills in the stack until the first non-$1 bill isdetected, which in this example is the first $5 bill At that point, thesystem will stop operating with the first $5 being the last billdeposited in the output receptacle. The display 1063 may be designed toindicate the aggregate value of the preceding S1 bills processed and/orthe number of preceding $1 bills. The scanned $1 bills and the first $5bill are removed from the output receptacle and placed in separate $1and $5 bill stacks. The system will start again automatically andsubsequent bills will be assessed relative to being $5 bills. The systemcontinues processing bills until the first $10 bill is encountered. Theabove procedure is repeated and the system resumes operation untilencountering the first bill which is not a $10 bill, and so on. Upon thecompletion of processing the entire stack, the display 1063 willindicate the aggregate value of all the bills in the stack and/or thenumber of bills of each denomination in the stack. This mode permits theoperator to separate a stack of bills having multiple denominations intoseparate stacks according to denomination.

[0339] (D) Face Mode

[0340] Face mode is designed to accommodate a stack of bills all facedin the same direction, e.g., all placed in the input receptacle face up(that is the portrait or black side up for U.S. bills) and to detect anybills facing the opposite direction. In such a mode, when a stack ofbills is processed by the system, the face orientation of the first billin the stack is determined and subsequent bills are flagged if they donot have the same face orientation. Alternatively, the system may bedesigned to permit designation of the face orientation to which billswill be evaluated with those having a different face orientation beingflagged. Assuming the first bill in a stack determines the relevant faceorientation and assuming the first bill is face up, then provided allthe bills in the stack are face up, the display 1063 will indicate theaggregate value of the bills in the stack and/or the number of bills ofeach denomination in the stack. However, if a bill faced in the oppositedirection (i.e., face down in this example) is included in the stack,the system will stop operating with the reverse-faced bill being thelast bill deposited in the output receptacle. The reverse-faced billthen may be removed from the output receptacle. In automatic re-startembodiments, the removal of the reverse-faced bill causes the system tocontinue operating. The removed bill may then be placed into the inputreceptacle with the proper face orientation. Alternatively, innon-automatic re-start embodiments the reverse-faced bill may be eitherplaced into the input receptacle with the proper face, orientation andthe continuation key 1065 depressed, or placed back into the outputreceptacle with the proper face orientation. Depending on the set up ofthe system when a bill is placed back into the output receptacle withthe proper face orientation, the denomination selection key associatedwith the reverse-faced bill may be selected, whereby the associateddenomination counter and/or aggregate value counter are appropriatelyincremented and the system resumes operation. Alternatively, inembodiments wherein the system is capable of determining denominationregardless of face orientation, the continuation key 1065 or a third keymay be depressed whereby the system resumes operation and theappropriate denomination counter and/or total value counter isincremented in accordance with the denomination identified by thediscriminating system. In systems that require a specific faceorientation, any reverse-faced bills will be unidentified bills. Insystems that can accept a bill regardless of face orientation,reverse-faced bills may, be properly identified. The later type ofsystem may have a discrimination and authentication system with ascanhead on each side of the transport path. Examples of such dual-sidedsystems are disclosed above. The ability to detect and correct forreverse-faced bills is important as the Federal Reserve requirescurrency it receives to be faced in the same direction.

[0341] In a multi-output receptacle system, the face mode may be used toroute all bills facing upward to one output receptacle and all billsfacing downward to another output receptacle. In single-sideddiscriminators, reverse-faced bills may be routed to an inspectionstation for manual turnover by the operator and the unidentifiedreverse-faced bills may then be passed by the system again. Indual-sided systems, identified reverse-faced bills may be routeddirectly to an appropriate output receptacle. For example, in dual-sideddiscriminators bills may be sorted both by face orientation and bydenomination, e g., face up $1 bills into pocket #1, face down $1 bill,into pocket #2, face up $5 bills into pocket #3, and so on or simply bydenomination, regardless of face orientation, e.g. all $1 bills intopocket #1 regardless of face orientation, all $2 bills into pocket #2,etc.

[0342] (E) Forward/Reverse Orientation Mode

[0343] Forward/Reverse Orientation mode (“Orientation” mode) is designedto accommodate a stack of bills all oriented in a predetermined forwardor reverse orientation direction. For example in a system that feedsbills along their narrow dimension, the forward direction may be definedas the fed direction whereby the top edge of a bill is fed first andconversely for the reverse direction. In a system that feeds bills alongtheir long dimension, the forward direction may be defined as the feddirection whereby the left edge of a bill is fed first and converselyfor the reverse direction. In such a mode, when a stack of bills isprocessed by the system, the forward/reverse orientation of the firstbill in the stack is determined and subsequent bills are flagged if theydo not have the same forward/reverse orientation. Alternatively, thesystem may be designed to permit the operator to designate theforward/reverse orientation against which bills will be evaluated withthose having a different forward/reverse orientation being flagged.Assuming the first bill in a stack determines the relevantforward/reverse orientation and assuming the first bill is fed in theforward direction, then provided all the bills in the stack are also fedin the forward direction, the display 63 will indicate the aggregatevalue of the bills in the stack and/or the number of bills of eachdenomination in the stack. However, if a bill having the oppositeforward/reverse orientation is included in the stack, the system willstop operating with the opposite forward/reverse oriented bill being thelast bill deposited in the output receptacle. The oppositeforward/reverse oriented bill then may be removed from the outputreceptacle. In automatic re-start embodiments, the removal of theopposite forward/reverse oriented bill causes the system to continueoperating. The removed bill may then be placed into the input receptaclewith the proper face orientation. Alternatively, in non-automaticre-start embodiments, the opposite forward/reverse oriented bill may beeither placed into the input receptacle with the proper forward/reverseorientation and the continuation key 65 depressed, or placed back intothe output receptacle with the proper forward/reverse orientation.Depending on the set up of the system, when a bill is placed back intothe output receptacle with the proper forward/reverse orientation, thedenomination selection key associated with the opposite forward/reverseoriented bill may be selected, whereby the associated denominationcounter and/or aggregate value counter are appropriately incremented andthe system resumes operation. Alternatively, in embodiments wherein thesystem is capable of determining denomination regardless offorward/reverse orientation, the continuation key 1065 or a the thirdkey may be depressed whereby the system resumes operation and theappropriate denomination counter and/or total value counter isincremented in accordance with the denomination identified by thesystem. In single-direction systems, any reverse-oriented bills will beunidentified bills. In dual-direction units, reverse-oriented bills maybe properly identified by the discriminating unit. An example of adual-direction system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196. Theability to detect and correct for reverse-oriented bills is important asthe Federal Reserve may soon require currency it receives to be orientedin the same forward/reverse direction.

[0344] In a multi-output receptacle system, the orientation mode may beused to route all bills oriented in the forward direction to one outputreceptacle and all bills oriented in the reverse direction to anotheroutput receptacle. In single-direction discriminators, reverse-orientedbills may be routed to an inspection station for manual turnover by theoperator and the unidentified reverse-oriented bills may then be passedby the system again. In systems capable of identifying bills fed in bothforward and reverse directions (“dual-direction systems”), identifiedreverse-oriented bills may be routed directly to an appropriate outputreceptacle. For example, in dual-direction system bills may be sortedboth by forward/reverse orientation and by denomination, e.g., forward$1 bills into pocket #1, reverse $1 bills into pocket #2, forward $5bills into pocket #3, and so on or simply by denomination, regardless offorward/reverse orientation, e.g., all $1 bills into pocket #1regardless of forward/reverse orientation, all $2 bills into pocket #2,etc.

[0345] (F) Suspect Mode

[0346] In addition to the above modes, a suspect mode may be activatedin connection with these modes whereby one or more authentication testsmay be performed on the bills in a stack. When a bill fails anauthentication test, the system will stop with the failing or suspectbill being the last bill transported to the output receptacle. Thesuspect bill then may be removed from the output receptacle and setaside.

[0347] (G) Other Modes

[0348] A proof of deposit mode may be activated when a user presses adedicated key on the machine This mode enables the system to processchecks, loan payment coupons, and other proof of deposit media. Anotherkey may be pressed to activate bank source mode. When the machine is inthis mode, the output documents are separated into documents from onesource and documents from all other sources. For example, checks may beseparated into checks issued from the bank which owns the machine andchecks issued by all other financial institutions. Such separation maybe accomplished by using two bins or one bin whereby the machine stopswhen an “outside” check (i.e., a check from a non-owner financialinstitution) is detected. Finally, the user may press a key to have themachine enter stored image mode. When operating in this mode, the systemholds deposit images at the machine which is later polled for datapickup by the central accounting system. Such a mode eases datacongestion between the system and the central accounting system.

[0349] Likewise, one or more of the above described modes may beactivated at the same time. For example, the face mode and theforward/reverse orientation mode may be activated at the same time. Insuch a case, bills that are either reverse-faced or oppositeforward/reverse oriented will be flagged.

[0350] According to one embodiment, when a bill is flagged, for example,by stopping the transport motor with the flagged bill being the lastbill deposited in the output receptacle, the discrimination andauthentication unit indicates to the operator why the bill was flagged.This indication may be accomplished by, for example, lighting anappropriate light, generating an appropriate sound, and/or displaying anappropriate message in the display section 1063 (FIG. 48). Suchindication might include, for example, “no call”, “stranger”, “failedmagnetic test”, “failed UV test”, “no security thread”, etc.

[0351] Means for entering the value of no call bills or other documentswere discussed above in connection with FIG. 48 and the operating modesdiscussed above. Now several additional means will be discussed inconnection with FIGS. 49-53. FIG. 49a is a front view of a control panel2302 similar to that of FIG. 48. The control panel 2302 comprises adisplay area 2304, several denomination selection elements 2306 a-g inthe form of keys, left and right scroll keys 2308 a-b, an acceptselection element 2310, and a continuation selection element 2312. Eachdenomination selection element 2306 a-g has a prompting means associatedtherewith. In FIG. 49a, the prompting means are in the form of smalllights or lamps 2314 a-g such as LEDs. In FIG. 49a, the light 2314 dassociated with the $10 denomination key 2306 d is illuminated so as toprompt the operator that a denomination of $10 is being suggested.Alternatively, instead of the lamps 2314 a-g being separate from thedenomination keys 2306 a-g, the denomination keys could be in the formof illimitable keys whereby one of the keys 2306 a-g would light up tosuggest its corresponding denomination to the operator. In place of, orin addition to, the illimitable lights 2314 a-g or keys, the displayarea 2304 may contain a message to prompt or suggest a denomination tothe operator. In FIG. 49a, the display area 2304 contains the message“$10 ?” to suggest the denomination of $10. In the embodiment of FIG.48, the display area 1063 may be used to suggest a denomination to theoperator without the need of illimitable lights and keys. The value ofany document can also be entered via the keyboard.

[0352]FIG. 49b illustrates a control panel similar to that of FIG. 49aexcept that the denomination keys have been replaced by numeric keys anda decimal point which are collectively referred to as 2314 h. Additionallights 2314 i-k are used by the system to suggest values to be enteredby the user. The remainder of the panel functions as described above.This embodiment is particularly useful in processing financialinstitution documents although it can be used for currency as well.

[0353] The control panel 2402 of FIG. 50a is similar to the controlpanel 2302 of FIG. 49a; however, the denomination selection elements2406 a-g, scroll keys 2408 a-b, accept key 2410, and continuation key2412 are displayed keys in a touch-screen environment. To select anygiven key, the operator touches the screen in the area of the key to beselected. The operation of a touch screen is described in more detail inconnection with FIG. 55. The system may contain prompting means tosuggest a denomination to the operator. For example, an appropriatemessage may be displayed in a display area 2404. Alternatively, oradditionally, the prompting means may include means for highlighting oneof the denomination selection elements 2406 a-g. For example, theappearance of one of the denomination selection elements may be alteredsuch as by making it lighter or darker than the remaining denominationselection elements or reversing the video display (e.g., making lightportions dark and making the dark portions light or swapping thebackground and foreground colors). Alternatively, a designateddenomination selection element may be highlighted by surrounding it witha box, such as box 2414 surrounding the $10 key 2406 d.

[0354]FIG. 50b illustrates a control panel similar to that of FIG. 50aexcept that the denomination keys have been replaced by numeric keys anda decimal point which are collectively referred to as 2313 h. Theremainder of the panel functions as described above. This embodiment isparticularly useful in processing financial institution documentsalthough it can be used for currency as well.

[0355] Another embodiment of a control panel 2502 is depicted in FIG.51a. The control panel 2502 has several denomination indicating elements2506 a-g in the form of menu list 2505, scroll keys 2508 a-b, an acceptselection element 2510, and a continuation selection element 2512. Thevarious selection elements may be, for example, physical keys ordisplayed keys in a touch screen environment. For example, the menu list2505 may be displayed in a non-touch screen activated display area whilethe scroll keys 2508 a-b, accept key 2510, and continuation key 2512 maybe physical keys or displayed touch screen keys. In such an environmenta user may accept a denominational selection by pressing the accept key2510 when the desired denomination indicating element is highlighted andmay use the scroll keys 2508 a-b to vary the denomination indicatingelement that is highlighted. Alternatively, the denomination indicatingelements 2506 a-g may themselves be selection elements such as by beingdisplayed touch screen active keys. In such an embodiment a givendenomination element may be made to be highlighted and/or selected bytouching the screen in the area of one of the denomination selectionelements 2506 a-g. The touching of the screen in the area of one of thedenomination selection elements may simply cause the associateddenomination selection element to become highlighted requiring thetouching and/or pressing of the accept key 2510 or alternatively mayconstitute acceptance of the associated denomination selection elementwithout requiring the separate selection of the accept key 2510. Thediscrimination and authentication unit may contain prompting means tosuggest a denomination to the operator. For example, an appropriatemessage may be displayed in a display area 2504. Alternatively, oradditionally, the prompting means may include means for highlighting oneof the denomination indicating elements 2506 a-g. For example, theappearance of one of the denomination indicating elements may be alteredsuch as by making it lighter or darker than the remaining denominationindicating elements or by reversing the video display (e.g., makinglight portions dark and making the dark portions light or swapping thebackground and foreground colors). In FIG. 51a, the hash marks are usedto symbolize the alternating of the display of the $10 denominationindicating element 2506 d relative to the other denomination indicatingelements such as by using a reverse video display.

[0356]FIG. 51b illustrates a control panel similar to that of FIG. 51aexcept that the denomination selection elements have been replaced bynumeric and a decimal selection elements which are collectively referredto as 2506 h. The remainder of the panel functions as described above.This embodiment is particularly useful in processing financialinstitution documents although it can be used for currency as well.

[0357] Control panel 2602 of FIG. 52 is similar to control panel 2502 ofFIG. 51; however, the control panel 2602 does not have a separatedisplay area. Additionally, the order of the denomination indicatingelements 2606 a-g of menu list 2605 is varied relative to those of menulist 2505. The order of the denomination selection element may beuser-defined (i.e., the operator may preset the order in which thedenominations should be listed) or may be determined by thediscrimination and authentication unit and be, for example, based on thehistorical occurrence of no calls of each denomination, based on thedenomination of the most recently detected no call, based on calculatedcorrelation values for a given no call bill, or perhaps based on randomselection. Such criteria will be described in more detail below.

[0358] The control panel 2702 of FIGS. 53a and 53 b comprises a displayarea 2704, an accept key 2710, a next or other denomination key 2711,and a continuation key 2712. Alternatively, the accept key may bedesignated a “YES” key while the we other denomination key may bedesignated a “NO” key. These keys may be physical keys or displayedkeys. The system prompts or suggest a denomination by displaying anappropriate message in the display area 2704. If the operator wishes toaccept this denomination suggestion, the accept key 2710 may beselected. If other the operator wishes to select a differentdenomination, the other denomination key 2711 may be selected. If in theexample given in FIG. 53a the operator wishes to select a denominationother than the $5 prompted in the display area 2704, the otherdenomination key 2711 may be selected which results in prompting of adifferent denomination, e.g., $2 as shown in FIG. 55b. The “OTHER DENOM”key 2711 may be repeatedly selected to scroll through the differentdenominations.

[0359] The control panel 2802 of FIG. 54 is similar to that of FIGS.53a-b and additionally comprises scroll keys 2808 a-b. These scroll keys2808 a-b may be provided in addition to or in place of the otherdenomination key 2811. The order in which denominations are suggested toan operator, for example, in FIGS. 53 and 54, may be based on a varietyof criteria as will be discussed below such as user-defined criteria ororder, historical information, previous bill denomination, correlationvalues, or previous no call information.

[0360] Now several embodiments of the operation of the control panelssuch as those of FIGS. 48 and 49-54 will be discussed. These can beemployed in conjunction with a variety of discriminators and scanners.In particular, several methods for reconciling the value of no callbills will be discussed in connection with these control panels. Asdiscussed above, for example, in connection with the several previouslydescribed operating modes, when a system encounters a no call bill, thatis, when a system is unable to determine or call the denomination of abill, any counters keeping track of the number or value of eachdenomination of bills or of the total value of the bills processed willnot include the no call bill. Traditionally, any no calls bills had tobe set aside and manually counted by hand with the operator beingrequired to add their values to the totals provided by thediscrimination and authentication unit or the full-imaging unit. Asdiscussed above, this can lead to errors and reduced efficiency. Tocounter this problem, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, means are provided for incorporating the value of no callbills. In single pocket systems, reconciliation may be accomplishedon-the-fly with the system suspending operation when each no call isencountered, prompting the operator to enter the value of the no call,and then resuming operation. In multi-output pocket systems, no callbills may be reconciled either on-the-fly or after the completion ofprocessing all the bills placed in the input hopper or after completionof processing some other designated batch of bills. Under the firstapproach, the operation of the system is suspended when each no callbill is detected with or without the no call bill being routed to aspecial location. The operator is then prompted to enter the value ofthe no call where upon the system resumes operation. Based on the valueindicated by the operator, appropriate counters are augmented. Under thesecond approach, any no call bills are routed to a special locationwhile the discrimination and authentication unit or the full imageprocessing unit continue processing subsequent bills. When all the billshave been processed, the operator is prompted to reconcile the values ofany intervening no call bills. For example, assume a stack of fiftybills is placed in the input hopper and processed with four no callsbeing routed to a separate output receptacle from the receptacle orreceptacles into which the bills whose denominations have beendetermined. After all fifty bills have been processed, the operation ofthe transport mechanism is halted and the operator is prompted toreconcile the value of the four no call bills. The methods forreconciling these four no calls will be discussed below after describingseveral denomination indicating and/or prompting means and methods.Alternatively, instead of waiting until all the bills in the stack havebeen processed, the system may prompt the operator to reconcile thevalue of any no call bills while the remaining bills are still beingprocessed. When the operator indicates the denominations of the no callbills, appropriate counters are augmented to reflect the value of the nocall bills.

[0361] Several embodiments of means for permitting the operator toindicate the value of a flagged bill or document such as a no calland/or for prompting the operator as to the value of a flagged bill suchas a no call will no w be discussed. A first method was discussed abovein connection with several operating modes and in connection with FIG.48. According to one embodiment, the control panel of FIG. 48 comprisesdenomination indicating means in the form of the denomination selectionelements 2064 a-g for permitting the operator to indicate thedenomination of a bill but does not additionally comprise means forprompting the operator as to the denomination of a particular bill.Under this method, the operator examines a no call bill. If the bill isacceptable, the operator selects the denomination selection elementassociated with the denomination of the no call bill and the appropriatecounters are augmented to reflect the value of the no call bill. Forexample, if the operator determines a no call bill is an acceptable $10bill, the operator may press the $10 selection element 2064 c of FIG. 48If the operation of the system had been suspended, the selection of adenomination selection causes the operation of the system to resume. Ina on-the-fly reconciliating machine (i.e., one that suspends operationupon detection of each no call bill), if the operator determines that aparticular no call bill is unacceptable, a continuation selectionelement may be selected to cause the system to resume operation withoutnegatively affecting the status of any counters. Under this approach,the denomination selection elements provide the operator with means forindicating the value of a no call bill. In FIGS. 49-54, additionalexamples of means for indicating the value of no call bills areprovided. For example, in FIGS. 49-52, according to one embodiment, adenomination may be indicated in a similar manner by pressing one of thedenomination selection elements. Alternatively, or additionally, adenomination may be indicated by selecting one of the denominationselection elements and selecting an accept key. Another example of amethod of indicating a particular denomination selection element wouldbe by utilizing one or more scroll keys. The selection of a denominationselection element may be indicated by, for example, the lights 2314 ofFIG. 51, or by highlighting a particular selection element as in FIGS.50-52. Alternatively a displayed message, as in FIGS. 49-51, 53, and 54,may be used to indicate which denomination is currently selected. Thescroll keys could be used to alter which denomination is presentlyselected, for example, by altering which light 2314 is illuminated,which selection element is highlighted, or which denomination appears inthe displayed message. Selection of an accept key while a particulardenomination is selected may be used to indicate the selecteddenomination to the discrimination and authentication unit or the fullimage processing unit.

[0362] In addition to means for permitting the operator to indicate thedenomination of one or more no calls, a document processing system maybe provided with one or more means of prompting the operator as to thedenomination of a no call bill. These means can be the means used toindicate which denomination is currently selected, e.g., the lights 2314of FIG. 49, the highlighting of FIGS. 50-52, and/or the displayedmessage of FIGS. 49-51, 53, and 54. Several methods that may be employedin prompting the operator to enter the value of one or more no callbills will now be discussed.

[0363] A system containing means for prompting an operator as to thevalue of a no call bill or document may base its selection of thedenomination to be prompted to the operator on a variety of criteria.According to one embodiment, default denomination or sequence ofdenominations may be employed to prompt a denomination to an operator.For example, the system may begin by prompting the lowest denomination,e.g., $1. Alternatively, the operator may begin by prompting theoperator with the first denomination in a pre-defined sequence or on amenu list. The order of the denominations in the sequence or on the menulist may be a default order, e.g., increasing or decreasingdenominational order, user-defined order, manufacture-defined order.

[0364] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on a random basis. The system simply randomlyor pseudo-randomly chooses one of a plurality of denominations andsuggests this denomination to the operator. The denomination prompted toan operator may remain the same for all no call bills or alternatively,a new randomly selected denomination may be chosen for each no callencountered. If the operator agrees that a given no call bill is of thedenomination suggested by the prompting means and finds the particularno call bill to be acceptable, the operator may simply choose the acceptelement or the corresponding denomination selection element depending onthe embodiment of the control panel employed. If the operator finds aparticular bill to be acceptable but does not have the suggesteddenomination, the operator may alter the denomination that is selectedby, for example, altering the displayed suggested denomination by usingthe scroll keys, scrolling among the plurality of denomination selectionand/or indicating elements, or directly selecting the appropriatedenomination by pressing or touching the appropriate denominationselection element. If the operator finds that a no call bill is notacceptable, the operator may simply select a continuation key

[0365] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of the denomination of the lastbill that was identified by the system. For example, suppose the tenthbill in a stack was determined by the system to be a $10, the eleventhbill was a no call and indicated by the operator to be a $5 bill, andthe twelfth was a no call bill. According to this embodiment, the systemwould suggest to the operator that the twelfth bill is a $10 bill. Theoperator may accept this suggestion or alter the suggested denominationas described above.

[0366] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of the denomination of the lastno call bill as indicated by the operator. For example, suppose thetenth bill was a no call and indicated by the operator to be a $5 bill,the eleventh bill in a stack was determined by the system to be a $10,and the twelfth was a no call bill. According to this embodiment, thesystem would suggest to the operator that the twelfth bill is a $5 bill.The operator may accept this suggestion or alter the suggesteddenomination as described above.

[0367] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of the denomination of theimmediately preceding bill, regardless of whether the denomination ofthat bill was determined by the system or was indicated by the operator.For example, suppose the tenth bill in a stack was determined by thesystem to be a $10, the eleventh bill was a no call and indicated by theoperator to be a $5 bill, and the twelfth was also a no call bill.According to this embodiment, the system would suggest to the operatorthat the twelfth bill is a $5 bill. The operator may accept thissuggestion or alter the suggested denomination as described above.

[0368] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of historical informationconcerning no call bills such as statistical information regardingprevious no call bills. For example, suppose that for a given system 180no calls had been encountered since the system was placed in service.According to this embodiment, information regarding these no calls isstored in memory. Assume that of these 180 no call bills, 100 wereindicated by the operator to be $5s, 50 were $10s, and the remaining 30were $20s. According to this embodiment, the system would suggest to theoperator that a no call bill was a $5. The operator may accept thissuggestion or alter the suggested denomination as described above.Variations on the data which constitute the historical basis may bemade. For example, the historical basis according to this embodiment maybe all no calls encountered since a given machine was place in serviceas in the above example, the last predetermined number of no callsdetected, e.g., the last 100 no calls detected, or the lastpredetermined number of bills processed, e.g., the no calls encounteredin the last 1000 bills processed. Alternatively, the historical basismay be set by the manufacturer based on historical data retrieved from anumber of systems.

[0369] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of a comparison of informationretrieved from a given no call bill and master information associatedwith genuine bills. For example, in some systems, the denomination of abill is determined by scanning the bill, generating a scanned patternfrom information retrieved via the scanning step, and comparing thescanned pattern with one or more master patterns associated with one ormore genuine bills associated with one or more denominations. If thescanned pattern sufficiently matches one of the master patterns, thedenomination of the bill is called or determined to be the denominationassociated with the best matching master pattern. However, in somesystems, a scanned pattern must meet some threshold degree of matchingor correlation before the denomination of a bill will be called. In suchsystems, bills whose scanned pattern does not sufficiently match one ofthe master patterns are not called, i.e., they are no calls. Accordingto the present embodiment, the system would suggest to the operator thata no call had the denomination associated with the master pattern thatmost closely matched its scanned pattern even though that match wasinsufficient to call the denomination of the bill without theconcurrence of the operator. The operator may accept this suggestion oralter the suggested denomination as described above. For example, in asystem similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196, the systemmay prompt the operator with the denomination associated with the masterpattern that has the highest correlation with the scanned patternassociated with the given no call bill. For example, if the highestcorrelation for a bill is below 800, the bill is a no call bill. In sucha case, assume the highest correlation is 790 and this correlation isassociated with a $1 bill. When this no call bill is to be reconciled,the system would suggest to the operator that the no call was a $1 bill.

[0370] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of preset criteria establishedby the manufacturer. For example, in FIG. 62, the denominationindicating elements are arranged in increasing denominational order Thesystem may be designed to default so that a given one of thesedenomination selection elements is initially highlighted when no callbills are to be -reconciled. For example, for each no call the $10element 2506 d may initially be selected. Alternatively, the system maybe designed to default to the first denomination selection elementlisted, e.g., the $1 denomination element 2506 a.

[0371] According to another embodiment, a denomination to be prompted tothe operator is determined on the basis of user-defined criteria set bythe operator of a document processing system. For example, in FIG. 51,the operator may designate the system to default so that a given one ofthe denomination indicating elements is initially highlighted when nocall bills are to be reconciled. For example, for each no call theoperator may designate that the $10 element 2506 d is to be initiallyselected. The operator may be permitted to set the default no calldenomination, for example, in a set up mode entered into before bills ina stack are processed.

[0372] In addition to the ways discussed above whereby an initialdenomination is prompted to the operator in connection with thereconciling a no call bill, according to other embodiments one or morealternate denominations are may also be suggested. For example,according to the method whereby the initial bill is suggested to theoperator based on the denomination associated with a master patternhaving the highest correlation relative to a scanned pattern, if theoperator rejects the initial suggestion, the system may be designed tothen suggest an alternate denomination based on the master patternassociated with a genuine bill of a different denomination having thenext highest correlation value. If the operator rejects the secondsuggestion, the system may be designed to then suggest a secondalternate denomination based on the master pattern associated with agenuine bill of a different denomination having the next highestcorrelation value, and so on.

[0373] For example, suppose the highest correlation was associated witha $1, the second highest correlation was associated with $10, and thethird highest correlation was associated with $50. According to thisembodiment, the system would initially suggest that the no call was a$1. If the operator determined the no call was not a $1, the systemwould then suggest that the no call was a $10. If the operatordetermined the no call was not a $10, the system would then suggest thatthe no call was a $50. For example, according to the embodiment of FIGS.64a-b, the system would first ask whether the no call was a $1 bydisplaying the message “$1?” in the display area 2704. If the no callwas a S1, the operator would depress the accept or yes key 2710. If theno call was not a $1 bill, the operator would depress the otherdenomination or no key 2711, in which case, the display area woulddisplay the message “$10?” and so on. Alternatively, the denominationselection elements may be arranged so that their relative order is basedon the correlation results. For example, taking the menu list 2605 ofFIG. 63, the denomination elements may be ordered in the order ofdecreasing correlation values, e.g., according to the previous examplewith the $1 denomination element being listed first, the $10denomination element being listed second, the $50 denominatior elementbeing listed third and so on. Alternatively, the denomination elementsmay be listed in the reverse order. According to another embodiment, thedenomination element associated with the highest correlation may belisted in the middle of the list surrounded by the denomination elementsassociated with the second and third highest correlations, and so on.For the above example, the $1 element 2606 a would be listed in themiddle of the menu list 2605 surrounded by the $10 element 2606 d on oneside and the $50 element 2606 f on the other side.

[0374] Likewise, the order in which denominations are suggested to theoperator and/or arranged on the control panel may be based on othercriteria such as those described above, such as the prior billinformation (e.g., last bill, last no call, last call denomination),historical information, user-defined order, manufacturer-defined orderand random order. For example, using the historical data example givenabove based on 180 no calls (100 $5 no calls, 50 $10 no calls, and 30$20 no calls), the order that denominations are suggested to theoperator may be first $5, then $10, and then $20. Alternatively usingthe last bill information and assuming the following sequence of bills($2, $5, $5, $5, $20, $10, no call indicated to be a $50, no call); thesystem would suggest denominations for the last no call in the followingorder: $50, $10, $20, $5, $2. Likewise the order in which thedenominations are arranged on a control panel such as in FIGS. 52 and 50may be determined based on such information, for example, according tothe orders described above in connection with using correlation values.For example, the denominations may be listed in the prompting ordersuggested above (e.g., $5, $10, $20 in the historical informationexample and $50, $10, $20, $5, $2 in the last bill example).Alternatively they may be listed in the reverse order. Alternatively,they may be arranged with the first suggested denomination being in thecenter of the list and being initially highlighted or selected. Thisfirst suggested denomination may be surrounded by the second and thirdsuggested denominations which are in turn surrounded by the fourth andfifth suggested denomination, and so on. A default sequence may be usedto provide the order for any remaining denominations which are notdictated by a particular prompting criteria in a given situation. In theabove examples, the denominations might be arranged on a menu list inthe following orders: $2, $1, $10, $5, $20, $50, $100 for the historicalinformation example and $1, $5, $10, $50, $20, $2, $100. In general, anexample of a listing order according to this approach could be from topto bottom: 6th priority or suggested denomination, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd,5th, and 7th.

[0375] Embodiments arranging the respective order in which denominationsare suggested to the operator and/or displayed on the control panel willlikely aid the operator by reducing the projected number of times theoperator will need to hit one of the scroll keys and/or “OTHER DENOM” or“NO” key.

[0376] Now several methods will be described in connectionreconciliation of no calls in multi-output pocket machines after allbills in a stack have been processed. Recalling a previous example inwhich four no call bills were separated out from a stack of fifty billsand the machine halted after processing all fifty bills, the system thenprompts the operator to reconcile the value of the four no call bills.For example assume the no call bills corresponded to the 5th, 20th,30th, and 31st bills in the stack and were $2, $50. $10, and $2 billsrespectively The degree of intelligence employed by the system inprompting the operator to reconcile the value of the no call bills mayvary depending on the particular embodiment employed. According to oneembodiment the operator may depress or select the denomination selectionelements corresponding the denominations of the no call bills withoutany prompting from the system as to their respective denominations. Forexample, using the control panel of FIG. 48, the operator would depressthe $2 selection element 64 g twice, the $10 selection element 1064 conce, and the $50 selection element 1064 e once. The system may or maynot inform the operator that four no call bills must be reconciled andmay or may not limit the operator to entering four denominations.Likewise, in other embodiments, the operator may use the scroll keys tocause the desired denomination to become selected and then depress theaccept key. Alternatively, a numerical keypad may be provided forpermitting the operator to indicate the number of bills of eachdenomination that have not been called. For example, the above example,the operator could use the scroll keys so that the $2 denomination wasselected, then press “2” on the keypad for the number of $2 no calls inthe batch, and then press an enter or accept key. Then the operatorcould use the scroll keys so that the $10 denomination was selected,then press “1” on the keypad for the number of $10 no calls in thebatch, and then press an enter or accept key and so on. The keypad maycomprise, for example, keys or selection elements associated with thedigits 0-9.

[0377] Alternatively, the system may prompt the operator as to thedenomination of each no call bill, for example, by employing one of theprompting methods discussed above, e g., default, random, user-definedcriteria, manufacturer defined criteria, prior bill information (lastbill, last no call, last called denomination), historical information,scanned and master comparison information (e.g. highest correlation).For example, the system may serially interrogate the examiner as to thedenomination of each no call, for example, the display may initiallyquery “Is 1st no call a $2?”. Depending on the embodiment of the controlpanel being used, the operator could then select “ACCEPT” or “YES” orselect the $2 denomination selection element, select “OTHER DENOM” or“NO” or use the scroll keys or select the appropriate denominationselection element, or if the operator finds the first bill unacceptable,the operator may put the first no call bill aside and select “CONT” Thesystem may then query the operator as to the denomination of the secondno call bill, and so on. The denomination prompted to the operator woulddepend on the prompting criteria employed. For example, suppose theprompting criteria was the denomination of the preceding bill andfurther suppose that in the four no call example given above that thefirst bill was a $2, the 2nd bill was a $10, the 3rd bill was a S1, the4th bill was a $1, the 19th bill was a $50, the 29th bill was a $10, andas stated above, the 30th bill was a $10. The system would then promptthe operator as to whether the first no call was a $1. Since the firstno call is a $2, the operator would choose “NO”, “OTHER DENOM”, scroll,or hit the $2 selection element depending on the embodiment be used. Ifthe “NO” or “OTHER DENOM” key were pressed, the system would review thepreceding bills in reverse order and suggest the first denominationencountered that had not already been suggested, in this case a $10. Ifthe “NO” or “OTHER DENOM” key were pressed again, the system would thensuggest a $2. A predetermined default sequence may be utilized whenprior bill information does not contain the desired denomination. Oncethe operator indicates that the first no call is a $2, the system wouldthen prompt the operator as to whether the second no call was a $50.Since the second no call was indeed a $50 the operator would choose“ACCEPT”, “YES”, or select the $50 denomination selection elementdepending on the embodiment chosen. The system would then suggest thatthe third no call was a $10 and the operator would similarly indicateacceptance of the $10 suggested denomination. Finally, the system wouldsuggest that the fourth no call was a $10. Since the last no call was a$2, the operator would reject the $10 suggestion and indicate that thefourth no call bill was a $2 as described above. The operation of adocument processing system using a different prompting criteria wouldproceed in a similar manner and as described above with respect to eachof the described prompting methods.

[0378] While discussed above with respect to no calls, the aboveembodiments could also be employed in connection with other types offlagged bills such as reverse-faced bills, reverse forward/reverseoriented bills, unfit bills, suspect bills, etc.

[0379] Referring now to FIG. 55, the touch screen I/O device 2956includes a touch screen 2960 mounted over a graphics display 2961. Inone embodiment, the display 2961 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) withbacklighting. The display may have, for example, 128 vertical pixels and256 horizontal pixels. The display 2961 contains a built-in charactergenerator which permits the display 2961 to display text and numbershaving font and size pre-defined by the manufacturer of the display.Moreover, a controller such as a CPU is programmed to permit the loadingand display of custom fonts and shapes (e.g., key outlines) on thedisplay 2961. The display 2961 is commercially available as Part No.GMF24012EBTW from Stanley Electric Company, Ltd., Equipment ExportSection, of Tokyo, Japan.

[0380] The touch screen 2960 may be an X-Y matrix touch screen forming amatrix of touch responsive points. The touch screen 2960 includes twoclosely spaced but normally separated layers of optical grade polyesterfilm each having a set of parallel transparent conductors. The sets ofconductors in the two spaced polyester sheets are oriented at rightangles to each other so when superimposed they form a grid. Along theoutside edge of each polyester layer is a bus which interconnects theconductors supported on that layer. In this manner, electrical signalsfrom the conductors are transmitted to the controller. When pressurefrom a finger or stylus is applied to the upper polyester layer, the setof conductors mounted to the upper layer is deflected downward intocontact with the set of conductors mounted to the lower polyester layer.The contact between these sets of conductors acts as a mechanicalclosure of a switch element to complete an electrical circuit which isdetected by the controller through the respective buses at the edges ofthe two polyester layers, thereby providing a means for detecting the Xand Y coordinates of the switch closure. A matrix touch screen 2960 ofthe above type is commercially available from Dynapro Thin FilmProducts, Inc. of Milwaukee, Wis.

[0381] As illustrated in FIG. 55, the touch screen 2960 forms a matrixof ninety-six optically transparent switch elements having six columnsand sixteen rows. The controller is programmed to divide the switchelements in each column into groups of three to form five switches ineach column. Actuation of any one of the three switch elements forming aswitch actuates the switch. The uppermost switch element in each columnremains on its own and is unused.

[0382] Although the touch screen 2960 uses an X-Y matrix of opticallytransparent switches to detect the location of a touch, alternativetypes of touch screens may be substituted for the touch screen 2960These alternative touch screens use such well-known techniques ascrossed beams of infrared light, acoustic surface waves, capacitancesensing, and resistive membranes to detect the location of a touch. Thestructure and operation of the alternative touch screens are describedand illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,317,140, 5,297,030,5,231,381, 5,198,976, 5,184,115, 5,105,186, 4,931,782, 4,928,094,4,851,616, 4,811,004, 4,806,709, and 4,782,328, which are incorporatedherein by reference.

[0383] The details of conducting a document transaction are illustratedin FIG. 56a. The functionality described below may reside at a singlelocation or may be split across several locations throughout thedocument processing system, for example, in the full image scanner, atthe central office computer, and at a personal computer attached to thedocument processing system. The user loads mixed documents at step 11 ainto the machine. This can be accomplished, as discussed above, byplacing the documents in receptacle 16 on the machine. Next, still atstep 11 a, the user initiates the processing of the documents. This canbe accomplished, for example, by having the user press a start key on atouch screen on the communications panel 26, as discussed above, toinitiate a transaction. By “document transaction”, it is meant toinclude not only all documents as described above, but also all forms ofstorage media including all forms is of magnetic storage media (e.g.,smart cards, debit cards), all forms of optical storage media (e.g., CDdisks) and all forms of solid state storage media. Stored on the mediais an amount indicating an amount of funds.

[0384] The machine attempts to identify the document at step 11 b. Ifstep 11 b fails to identify the document, several alternatives arepossible depending upon the exact implementation chosen for the machine.For example, as described previously, if it fails to identify thedocument, the system can use two canisters and place an unidentifieddocument in a “no read” canister. Alternatively, at step 11 d, themachine can be stopped so that the user can remove the “no read”document immediately. In this alternative, if the document can not berecognized by the machine, the unidentified document is diverted, forexample, to a return slot so that it can be removed from the machine bythe user. Also, the image can be displayed on the teller's videoterminal so that the teller can analyze the image without removing thedocument. Alternatively, the teller may physically remove the documentfrom the output receptacle, inspect the document and then enter themissing data so the document could be processed. After completing thesesteps, the system returns to step 11 b to identify the other loadeddocuments.

[0385] In the event that the user wishes to deposit “no read” documentthat are returned to the user, the user may key in the value and numberof such document and deposit them in an envelope for later verification.A message on the display screen may advise the user of this option. Forexample, if four $10 bills are returned, then re-deposited by the userin an envelope, the user may press a “10” key on the keyboard fourtimes. The user then receives immediate credit for all the documentsdenominated and authenticated by the scanner. Credit for re-deposited“no read” documents is given only after a bank picks up the envelope andmanually verifies the amount. Alternatively, at least preferred userscan be given full credit immediately, subject to later verification, orimmediate credit can be given up to a certain dollar limit. In the caseof counterfeit documents that are not returned to the user, the user canbe notified of the detection of a counterfeit suspect at the machine orlater by a written notice or personal call, depending upon thepreferences of the financial institution.

[0386] If step 11 b identifies the documents, next, at step 11 e, themachine attempts to authenticate the documents to determine if thedocuments are genuine. The authentication process is described ingreater detail below. If the documents are not genuine, then the systemproceeds to one of three steps depending upon which option a userchooses for their machine. At step 11 f, the system may continueoperation and identify the suspect documents in the stack. In thisalternative, a single canister is used for all documents, regardless ofwhether they are verified bills, no reads, or counterfeit suspects. Onthe other hand, at step 11 g the machine may outsort the currency, forexample, to a reject bin. The machine may also return the suspectcurrency at step 11 h directly to the user. This is accomplished bydiverting the currency to the return slot. Also, the machine maintains acount of the total number of counterfeit documents. If this totalreaches a certain threshold value, an alarm condition will be generated.The alarm condition may be handled, for example, by turning on a lighton the machine or by alerting the central office.

[0387] As mentioned above, the system may use a single canister to holdthe documents. If a single canister system is used, then the variousdocuments are identified within the single canister by placing differentcolored markers at the top of different documents. These documents areinserted into the bill transport path so they follow the respectivebills to be inserted into the canister. Specifically, a first marker,e.g., a marker of a first color, is inserted to indicate the document isa counterfeit suspect that is not to be returned to the user. A secondtype of marker, e.g., a marker of a second color, can be inserted toindicate that the document is a counterfeit suspect. A third type ofmarker, e.g., of a third color, is inserted to indicate that a markedbatch of documents represents a deposit whose verified amount did notagree with the user's declared balance. Because this third type ofmarker identifies a batch of documents instead of a single document, itis necessary to insert a marker at both the beginning and end of amarked batch. The marker could vary in size, contain bar-codes, or varyin color to easily identify different types of documents such as checksand currency.

[0388] If the document is authenticated, the total count B_(total) andbin count B_(counti) (where “i” is the “ith” bin) are incremented atstep 11 i. The total count B_(total) is used by the machine to establishthe amount deposited by the user and the bin counts are used todetermine the amount of documents in a particular bin.

[0389] The machine then determines whether sorting is required at step11 j. If the answer is affirmative, then the document is sorted bydenomination at step 11 k. Rather than using single or double bins, asdescribed above, this option includes a bin for each denomination and abin for each type of document such as checks and loan coupons. A binwould also be designated to receive a combination of documents. Forexample, one bin could be designated to bank proof-of-deposit documentssuch as checks, loan coupons, and savings deposit slips. Sorting isaccomplished by a sorting and counting module which sorts the documentsplacing each denomination in a specific bin. The sorting algorithm usedcan be any that is well known in the art.

[0390] After sorting at step 11 k or if the answer to step 11 j isnegative, the machine proceeds to step 11 l At step 11 l, the machinetests if the document bin in use is full That is, the machine comparesB_(counti) to the maximum allowed for a bin. If it is fill, at step 11m, the machine determines if there is an empty document bin. If there isno empty document bin available, at step 11 m, the machine stops. Thedocument is emptied at step 11 n. If an empty document bin exists, themachine switches to the empty bin and places the document into that binat step 11 p.

[0391] At step 11 o, the system determines when the last document in thedeposited stack of documents has been counted. If counting is complete,the machine is stopped at step 11 q.

[0392] The transport mechanism may also include an escrow holding areawhere the document being processed in a pending deposit transaction isheld until the transaction is complete. Thus, from step 11 q, the systemproceeds to step 11 s, to determine if escrow has been enabled. Ifescrow has not been enabled, the count of the machine is accepted atstep 11 u and the total amount B_(total) is posted to the user at step11 v. If escrow has been enabled, at step 11 r, the user is given thechoice of accepting the count. If the user decides not to accept thecount, at step 11 t, the document is returned to the user. From step 11t, the machine proceeds to step 11 a where the user is given anotherchance of counting the document. If the user decides to accept the countat step 11 r, the machine proceeds to step 11 u where the count isaccepted and step 11 v where the total count is displayed to the user.At this point, the document counting transaction is complete.

[0393] A coin transaction is described in greater detail in FIG. 56f. Asshown, a customer loads mixed coins into the system at step 12 a. Thecoins are sorted, authenticated, and bagged one at a time. At step 12 b,the machine sorts the coin. The sorting process is described in greaterdetail below. At step 12 c, the machine determines if the coin isauthentic. This process is also described in greater detail below If thecoin is not authentic, the machine outsorts the coin to a reject bin atstep 12 d and then proceeds to step 12 i and determines if counting andsorting is complete.

[0394] If the coin is authentic, the coin count C_(total) and bag countC_(bagi) (where “i” represents the “ith” bag) is incremented by one atstep 12 e. The system count C_(total) represents the total value of thecoins deposited while the bag count represents the number of coins in abag. After sorting and authenticating the coin, the system attempts toplace the coin in a bag at step 12 h. All coins can be placed in one bagor one bag per denomination can be used. Alternatively, any number ofdenominations, for example, two, could be placed in a bag. At step 12 h,the system checks to see if the limit of the bag has been reached. Thatis, the system compares C_(bagi) to the predetermined limit for a bag.If the limit has been reached for the bag in current use (e.g., bag A),the machine next checks to see if another bag (e.g., bag B) is full atstep 12 f. If bag B is full, the machine is stopped and an operatorempties the bag at step 12 g. If the other bag (e.g., bag B) is notfull, then at step 12 i the machine switches to this bag and the coin isplaced there. The machine then proceeds to step 12 j where a test isperformed to determine if counting is complete.

[0395] At step 12 j, the machine determines if sorting is complete. Thisis accomplished by sensing whether there are additional coins to sort inthe coin bin. If sorting is not complete, the system continues at step12 b by counting and sorting the next coin.

[0396] If sorting has been completed, at step 12 k the machine checkswhether the escrow option has been enabled. If it has, at step 12 l, themachine asks the customer whether they wish to accept the count. If thecustomer replies in the affirmative, at step 12 m the machine acceptsthe count C_(total) and posts the total to the customer. If the customerreplies with a negative answer at step 12 l, then the machine returnsthe coins to the customer at step 12 n and the counting is complete.

[0397] If escrow has not been enabled, the machine checks at step 12 oto see if stop has been pressed. If it has, the machine stops. If stophas not been pressed, then the machine waits for a certain period oftime to time out at step 12 p and stops when this time period has beenreached.

[0398] The operation of the distribution step is now described ingreater detail. As mentioned previously, at step 10 c of flowchart ofFIG. 2, the user allocates the amount deposited, whether the amountdeposited is in the form of bills or coin. This step is illustrated indetail in FIGS. 58b, 58 c, and 58 d.

[0399] The machine inputs the funds at step 15 k and sets S_(total) (thetotal funds to be allocated) equal to either B_(total) at step 15 l. Theuser has the choice of adding more funds at step 15 m. If the answer isaffirmative, more funds are added. This process is described in detailbelow. If the answer is negative, the machine proceeds to step 13 a withthe user selecting the amount and destination for the distribution offunds. The user is prompted by screen 52 to make these selections.

[0400] The user then has several options for distribution destinations.The user can choose to proceed to step 13 b where an amount istransferred onto some storage media, for example, a smart card, and thestorage media is automatically dispensed to the user. Another option, atstep 13 c, is to have an amount distributed to a user account, forexample, an account in a grocery store. Another choice is to distributean amount in the form of loose document to the user at step 13 d orloose coin at step 13 e. The user can also choose to distribute theamount to creditors at step 13 f or make payment of fees to creditors atstep 13 g. The user might make payment of fees to financial institutionsat step 13 h. These could include mortgage payments, for example. Theuser can choose to add the amount to some form of storage media, forexample, a smart card, at step 13 i. The user might also choose todispense strapped document at step 13 j, rolled coin at step 13 k, inthe form of tokens, coupons, or user script at step 13 l, disperse abank check or money order at step 13 m, or dispense a check dawn on acustomer account at step 13 n.

[0401] For some of the distribution selections, e.g. distribution ofloose bills, the user may wish to have certain denominations returned tohim or may wish to accept a machine allocation. For example, the usermay choose to allocate a $100 deposit as four $20 bills, one $10 bill,and two $5 bills rather than accepting the default machine allocation.Those distributions where the user has a choice of allocating thedeposit themselves or accepting a machine allocation, follow path A. Ifthe machine proceeds via path A, at step 14 a the user is asked whetherthey wish to allocate the amount. If the answer is affirmative, the userwill then decide the allocation at step 14 c. However, if the answer atstep 14 a is negative, then the machine decides the allocation at step14 b. Machine allocation is appropriate for dispensing all forms ofbills, coins, tokens, coupons, user script and to storage media.

[0402] On the other hand, some distributions, e.g. deposits to bankaccounts, require the user to allocate the deposit. For example, for a$500 deposit, a user may allocate $250 to a savings account and $250 toa checking account. Those distributions where the user is required toallocate the amount deposited follow path B. If the machine proceeds viapath B, at step 14 c the user decides the allocation. The machine thencontinues at step 14 c.

[0403] After steps 14 c or 14 d, the machine proceeds to step 14 d wherethe amount distributed is subtracted from the total amount deposited. Atstep 14 e, the machine determines whether there is anything left todistribute after the subtraction. If the answer is affirmative, themachine proceeds to step 13 a where the user again decides a place todistribute the amount allocated.

[0404] At step 14 f, the user decides whether they wish to close thetransaction. If they do, the transaction is closed. The closingcompletes step 10 c of FIG. 2. On the other hand, they may not wish toend the transaction. For example, they may wish to add more cash, coins,or credit from other sources. If this is the case, the machine proceedsto step 15 a of FIG. 56d.

[0405] At step 15 a, the user decides which additional source of fundsis to be used. The user could choose, at step 15 b, to withdraw fundsfrom a credit line, for example, from a credit card or bank. The usercould choose to deposit more bills at step 15 d. These steps werediscussed above. The user could also choose to write a check and havethis scanned in at step 15 e, take a value from a form of storage media,for example a smart card, at step 15 f, add values from food stamps atstep 15 g, count credit card slips at step 15 h or coupon slips at step15 i, or withdraw from a user account at step 15 j

[0406] At step 15 k, these additional funds are input into the system.For example, the algorithm illustrated in FIG. 56a is used to input anamount of additional funds from newly deposited bills. At step 15 l,this amount is added to the total amount of funds. At step 15 m, theuser is given the choice of adding more funds. If the answer isaffirmative, the system returns to step 15 a where the user declares thesource of additional funds. If the answer is negative, the machinereturns to step 13 a in FIG. 56b where the user is again asked todetermine the distribution of the funds. The machine then proceeds asdescribed above.

[0407] As described, the user can initiate a document transaction bydirectly depositing funds from some form of storage media including allforms of magnetic, optical, and solid-state media. In the case of adocument transaction using storage media, the user may insert theirmedia into a media reader so that it may be read. The machine then mayprompt the user for the amount to be removed from the media anddistributed to other sources. Conversely, the machine might remove allthe funds available from the media. In any case, once the deposit amounthas been removed from the media, the machine proceeds to step 15 k inFIG. 56d. The remaining steps are the same as described above.

[0408] Also as described above, the user can initiate a transaction bydepositing funds from an outside source. By outside source, it is meantto include a credit card account, bank account, store account, or othersimilar accounts. The user may initiate a transaction by using the touchscreen to enter account information, such as the account number and PINnumber to access the account. The user might also initiate thetransaction by moving an account identification card through a mediareader, then using the communications panel to enter other data such asthe amount to be withdrawn from the account. Then, the system proceedsto step 15 k of FIG. 56d. The remaining steps are described are the sameas described above.

[0409] The alternate funds distribution algorithm is illustrated in FIG.56e. At step 17 a, the user indicates whether there are any more fundsto process. If the answer is affirmative, at step 17 b, the machineprocesses more funds. If the answer is negative, then at step 17 c, thedispensing unit distributes the funds according to its programming.Operation of the machine then stops.

[0410] As described above, the processing system has the advantage ofbeing able to process mixed currency or documents utilizing full imagescanning and a discriminator The deposits in the system are processedsubstantially immediately. In addition, the full image of the scanneddocument can be communicated to a central office from which two-waycommunication with a system at a remote location is allowed. Finally,the processing system provides all the benefits of an automated tellermachine.

[0411] An alternate embodiment of a control panel 3002 is shown in FIG.57a. A set of keys 3004 is used to enter numeric data which is shown onthe screen which appears to be missing from bill 3006. Alternatively,the user may enter denomination information using keys 3008 which relateto denominations which appear on the screen. In yet another embodimentof the control panel, a touch screen 3020 is used to enter no-callinformation concerning bill 3022. The user can enter the missinginformation using a keypad 3026 or denomination keys 3024 which appearon the touch screen. Additionally, the user could use a standardalphanumeric keyboard to complete the document image as required.Alternatively, if a personal computer terminal is used, a mouse could beused identify and select appropriate fields. For example, if thedocument were a check, the unidentified field may be the signature fieldor the amount field. The user would “click” this field. A second screenwould appear on the terminal where the missing data would be entered.These routines could be customer-specific based upon the customer'sneeds.

[0412] As stated before, the system may include a coin sorting anddiscrimination module 19 FIGS. 58-61 illustrate a disc-type coin sorterused in coin sorting and discrimination module 19 that uses acoin-driving member having a resilient surface for moving coins along ametal coin-guiding surface of a stationary coin-guiding member.Alternatively, the coin sorter may be a rail sorter such as thedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,868 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,381, both ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The sortermay also be a core sorter such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.2,835,260, sifter-type sorter such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,360,034, or any type of coin-counting disk such as that described inU.S. Pat. No. 4,543,969, all of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety. Additionally, the coin sorter may be a drumsorter, dual-disc sorter, or any other coin sorter as is known to thoseskilled in the art. Alternatively, the simple coin sorter with coindiscrimination can be used to verify the deposit of coin. Such sortersare described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,669,998, 2,750,949, and 5,299,977, allof which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Thecoin-driving member is a rotating disc, and the coin-guiding member is astationary sorting head. As can be seen in FIG. 58, a hopper 1510receives coins of mixed denominations and feeds them through centralopenings in a housing 1511 and a coin-guiding member in the form of anannular sorting head or guide plate 1512 inside or underneath thehousing. As the coins pass through these openings, they are deposited onthe top surface of a coin-driving member in the form of a rotatable disc1513. This disc 1513 is mounted for rotation on a stub shaft (not shown)and driven by an electric motor 1514 mounted to a base plate 1515 Thedisc 1513 comprises a resilient pad 1516 bonded to the top surface of asolid metal disc 1517.

[0413] The top surface of the resilient pad 1516 is preferably spacedfrom the lower surface of the sorting head 1512 by a gap of about 0.005inches (0.13 mm). The gap is set around the circumference of the sortinghead 1512 by a three point mounting arrangement including a pair of rearpivots 1518, 1519 loaded by respective torsion springs 1520 which tendto elevate the forward portion of the sorting head. During normaloperation, however, the forward portion of the sorting head 1512 is heldin position by a latch 1522 which is pivotally mounted to the frame 1515by a bolt 1523. The latch 1522 engages a pin 1524 secured to the sortinghead. For gaining access to the opposing surfaces of the resilient pad1516 and the sorting head, the latch is pivoted to disengage the pin1524, and the forward portion of the sorting head is raised to an upwardposition (not shown) by the torsion springs 1520.

[0414] As the disc 1513 is rotated, the coins 1525 deposited on the topsurface thereof tend to slide outwardly over the surface of the pad dueto centrifugal force. The coins 1525, for example, are initiallydisplaced from the center of the disc 1513 by a cone 1526, and thereforeare subjected to sufficient centrifugal force to overcome their staticfriction with the upper surface of the disc. As the coins moveoutwardly, these coins which are lying flat on the pad enter the gapbetween the pad surface and the guide plate 1512 because the undersideof the inner periphery of this plate is spaced above the pad 16 by adistance which is about the same as the thickness of the thickest coin.As further described below, the coins are sorted into their respectivedenominations, and the coins for each denomination issue from arespective exit slot, such as the slots 1527, 1528, 1529, 1530, 1531 and1532 (see FIGS. 58 and 59) for dimes, pennies, nickels, quarters,dollars, and half-dollars, respectively In general, the coins for anygiven currency are sorted by the variation in diameter for the variousdenominations.

[0415] Preferably most of the aligning, referencing, sorting, andejecting operations are performed when the coins are pressed intoengagement with the lower surface of the sorting head 1512. In otherwords, the distance between the lower surfaces of the sorting head 1512with the passages conveying the coins and the upper surface of therotating disc 1513 is less than the thickness of the coins beingconveyed. As mentioned above, such positive control permits the coinsorter to be quickly stopped by braking the rotation of the disc 1513when a preselected number of coins of a selected denomination have beenejected from the sorter. Positive control also permits the sorter to berelatively compact yet operate at high speed. The positive control, forexample, permits the single file stream of coins to be relatively dense,and ensures that each coin in this stream can be directed to arespective exit slot.

[0416] Turning now to FIG. 59, there is shown a bottom view of thepreferred sorting head 1512 including various channels and other meansespecially designed for high-speed sorting with positive control of thecoins, yet avoiding the galling problem. It should be kept in mind thatthe circulation of the coins, which is clockwise in FIG. 58, appearscounterclockwise in FIG. 59 because FIG. 59 is a bottom view. Thevarious means operating upon the circulating coins include an entranceregion 1540, means 1541 for stripping “shingled” coins, means 1542 forselecting thick coins, first means 1544 for recirculating coins, firstreferencing means 1545 including means 1546 for recirculating coins,second referencing means 1547, and the exit means 1527, 1528, 1529,1530, 1531 and 1532 for six different coin denominations, such as dimes,pennies, nickels, quarters, dollars and half-dollars. The lowermostsurface of the sorting head 1512 is indicated by the reference numeral1550

[0417] Considering first the entrance region 1540, the outwardly movingcoins initially enter under a semi-annular region underneath a planarsurface 1561 formed in the underside of the guide plate or sorting head1512. Coin C1, superimposed on the bottom plan view of the guide platein FIG. 59 is an example of a coin which has entered the entrance region1540. Free radial movement of the coins within the entrance region 1540is terminated when they engage a wall 1562, though the coins continue tomove circumferentially along the wall 1562 by the rotational movement ofthe pad 1516, as indicated by the central arrow in the counterclockwisedirection in FIG. 59. To prevent the entrance region 1540 from becomingblocked by shingled coins, the planar region 1561 is provided with aninclined surface 1541 forming a wall or step 1563 for engaging theuppermost coin in a shingled pair. In FIG. 59, for example, an uppercoin C2 is shingled over a lower coin C3. As further shown in FIG. 60,movement of the upper coin C2 is limited by the wall 1563 so that theupper coin C2 is forced off of the lower coin C3 as the lower coin ismoved by the rotating disc 1513.

[0418] Returning to FIG. 59, the circulating coins in the entranceregion 1540, such as the coin C1, are next directed to the means 1542for selecting thick coins. This means 1542 includes a surface 1564recessed into the sorting head 1512 at a depth of 0.070 inches (1.78 mm)from the lowermost surface 1550 of the sorting head. Therefore, a stepor wall 1565 is formed between the surface 1561 of the entrance region1540 and the surface 1564. The distance between the surface 1564 and theupper surface of the disc 1513 is therefore about 0.075 inches so thatrelatively thick coins between the surface 1564 and the disc 1513 areheld by pad pressure. To initially engage such thick coins, an initialportion of the surface 1564 is formed with a ramp 1566 located adjacentto the wall 1562. Therefore, as the disc 1513 rotates, thick coins inthe entrance region that are next to the wall 1562 are engaged by theramp 1566 and thereafter their radical position is fixed by pressurebetween the disc and the surface 1564. Thick coins which fail toinitially engage the ramp 1566, however, engage the wall 1565 and aretherefore recirculated back within the central region of the sortinghead. This is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 61 for the coin C4. Thisinitial selecting and positioning of the thick coins prevents misalignedthick coins from hindering the flow of coins to the first referencingmeans 1545.

[0419] Returning now to FIG. 59, the ramp 1566 in the means 1542 forselecting the thick coins can also engage a pair or stack of thin coins.Such a stack or pair of thin coins will be carried under pad pressurebetween the surface 1564 and the rotating disc 1513. In the same manneras a thick coin, such a pair of stacked coins will have its radialposition fixed and will be carried toward the first referencing means1545. The first means 1545 for referencing the coins obtains asingle-file stream of coins directed against the outer wall 1562 andleading up to a ramp 1573.

[0420] Coins are introduced into the referencing means 1545 by thethinner coins moving radially outward via centrifugal force, or by thethicker coin(s) C52 a following concentricity via pad pressure. Thestacked coins C58 a and C50 a are separated at the inner wall 1582 suchthat the lower coin C58 a is carried against surface 1572 a. Theprogression of the lower coin C58 a is depicted by its positions at C58b, C58 c, C58 d, and C58 e. More specifically, the lower coin C58becomes engaged between the rotating disc 1513 and the surface 1572 inorder to carry the lower coin to the first recirculating means 1544,where it is recirculated by the wall 1575 at positions C58 d and C58 e.At the beginning of the wall 1582, a ramp 1590 is used to recycle coinsnot fully between the outer and inner walls 1562 and 1582 and under thesorting head 1512. As shown in FIG. 59, no other means is needed toprovide a proper introduction of the coins into the referencing means1545.

[0421] The referencing means 1545 is further recessed over a region 1591of sufficient length to allow the coins C54 of the widest denominationto move to the outer wall 1562 by centrifugal force. This allows coinsC54 of the widest denomination to move freely into the referencing means1545 toward its outer wall 1562 without being pressed between theresilient pad 1516 and the sorting head 1512 at the ramp 1590. The innerwall 1582 is preferably constructed to follow the contour of the recessceiling. The region 1591 of the referencing recess 1545 is raised intothe head 1512 by ramps 1593 and 1594, and the consistent contour at theinner wall 1582 is provided by a ramp 1595.

[0422] The first referencing means 1545 is sufficiently deep to allowcoins C50 having a lesser thickness to be guided along the outer wall1562 by centrifugal force, but sufficiently shallow to permit coins C52,C54 having a greater thickness to be pressed between the pad 1516 andthe sorting head 1512, so that they are guided along the inner wall 1582as they move through the referencing means 1545. The referencing recess1545 includes a section 1596 which bends such that coins C52, which aresufficiently thick to be guided by the inner wall 1582 but have a widthwhich is less than the width of the referencing recess 1545, are carriedaway from the inner wall 1582 from a maximum radial location 1583 on theinner wall toward the ramp 1573.

[0423] This configuration in the sorting head 1512 allows coins of alldenominations to converge at a narrow ramped finger 1573 a on the ramp1573, with coins C54 having the largest width being carried between theinner and outer walls via the surface 1596 to the ramped finger 1573 aso as to bring the outer edges of all coins to a generally common radiallocation. By directing the coins C50 radially inward along the latterportion of the outer wall 1562, the probability of coins being offsetfrom the outer wall 1562 by adjacent coins and being led onto the rampedfinger 1573 a is significantly reduced. Any coins C50 which are slightlyoffset from the outer wall 1562 while being led onto the ramp finger1573 a may be accommodated by moving the edge 1551 of exit slot 1527radially inward, enough to increase the width of the slot 1527 tocapture offset coins C50 but to prevent the capture of coins of thelarger denominations. For sorting Dutch coins, the width of the rampfinger 1573 a may be about 0.140 inch. At the terminal end of the ramp1573, the coins become firmly pressed into the pad 16 and are carriedforward to the second referencing means 1547.

[0424] A coin such as the coin C50 c will be carried forward to thesecond referencing means 1547 so long as a portion of the coin isengaged by the narrow ramped finger 1573 a on the ramp 1573. If a coinis not sufficiently close to the wall 1562 so as to be engaged by thisramped finger 1573 a, then the coin strikes a wall 1574 defined by thesecond recirculating means 1546, and that coin is recirculated back tothe entrance region 1540.

[0425] The first recirculating means 1544, the second recirculatingmeans 1546 and the second referencing means 1547 are defined atsuccessive positions in the sorting head 1512. It should be apparentthat the first recirculating means 1544, as well as the secondrecirculating means 1546, recirculate the coins under positive controlof pad pressure. The second referencing means 1547 also uses positivecontrol of the coins to align the outermost edge of the coins with agaging wall 1577. For this purpose, the second referencing means 1547includes a surface 1576, for example, at 0.110 inches (1.27 mm) from thebottom surface of the sorting head 1512, and a ramp 1578 which engagesthe inner edge portions of the coins, such as the coin C50 d.

[0426] As best shown in FIG. 59, the initial portion of the gaging wall1577 is along a spiral path with respect to the center of the sortinghead 1512 and the sorting disc 1513, so that as the coins are positivelydriven in the circumferential direction by the rotating disc 1513, theouter edges of the coins engage the gaging wall 1577 and are forcedslightly radially inward to a precise gaging radius, as shown for thecoin C16 in FIG. 60. FIG. 60 further shows a coin C17 having beenejected from the second recirculating means 1546

[0427] Referring back to FIG. 59, the second referencing means 1547terminates with a slight ramp 1580 causing the coins to be firmlypressed into the pad 1616 on the rotating, disc with their outermostedges aligned with the gaging radius provided by the gaging wall 1577.At the terminal end of the ramp 1580 the coins are gripped between theguide plate 1512 and the resilient pad 1516 with the maximum compressiveforce. This ensures that the coins are held securely in the new radialposition determined by the wall 1577 of the second referencing means1547.

[0428] The sorting head 1512 further includes sorting means comprising aseries of ejection recesses 1527, 1528, 1529, 1530, 1531 and 1532 spacedcircumferentially around the outer periphery of the plate, with theinnermost edges of successive slots located progressively farther awayfrom the common radial location of the outer edges of all the coins forreceiving and ejecting coins in order of increasing diameter. The widthof each ejection recess is slightly larger than the diameter of the cointo be received and ejected by that particular recess, and the surface ofthe guide plate adjacent the radially outer edge of each ejection recesspresses the outer portions of the coins received by that recess into theresilient pad so that the inner edges of those coins are tilted upwardlyinto the recess. The ejection recesses extend outwardly to the peripheryof the guide plate so that the inner edges of these recesses guide thetilted coins outwardly and eventually eject those coins from between theguide plate 1512 and the resilient pad 1516.

[0429] The innermost edges of the ejection recesses are positioned sothat the inner edge of a coin of only one particular denomination canenter each recess; the coins of all other remaining denominations extendinwardly beyond the innermost edge of that particular recess so that theinner edges of those coins cannot enter the recess.

[0430] For example, the first ejection recess 1527 is intended todischarge only dimes, and thus the innermost edge 1551 of this recess islocated at a radius that is spaced inwardly from the radius of thegaging wall 1577 by a distance that is only slightly greater than thediameter of a dime. Consequently, only dimes can enter the recess 1527.Because the outer edges of all denominations of coins are located at thesame radial position when they leave the second referencing means 1547,the inner edges of the pennies, nickels, quarters, dollars and halfdollars all extend inwardly beyond the innermost edge of the recess1527, thereby preventing these coins from entering that particularrecess.

[0431] At recess 1528, the inner edges of only pennies are located closeenough to the periphery of the sorting head 1512 to enter the recess.The inner edges of all the larger coins extend inwardly beyond theinnermost edge 1552 of the recess 1528 so that they remain grippedbetween the guide plate and the resilient pad. Consequently, all thecoins except the pennies continue to be rotated past the recess 1528.

[0432] Similarly, only nickels enter the ejection recess 1529, only thequarters enter the recess 1530, only the dollars enter the recess 1531,and only the half dollars enter the recess 1532.

[0433] Because each coin is gripped between the sorting head 1512 andthe resilient pad 16 throughout its movement through the ejectionrecess, the coins are under positive control at all times. Thus, anycoin can be stopped at any point along the length of its ejectionrecess, even when the coin is already partially projecting beyond theouter periphery of the guide plate. Consequently, no matter when therotating disc is stopped (e.g., in response to the counting of apreselected number of coins of a particular denomination), those coinswhich are already within the various ejection recesses can be retainedwithin the sorting head until the disc is re-started for the nextcounting operation

[0434] One of six proximity sensors S₁-S₆ is mounted along the outboardedge of each of the six exit channels 1527-1532 in the sorting head forsensing and counting coins passing through the respective exit channels.By locating the sensors S₁-S₆ in the exit channels, each sensor isdedicated to one particular denomination of coin, and thus it is notnecessary to process the sensor output signals to determine the coindenomination. The effective fields of the sensors S₁-S₆ are all locatedjust outboard of the radius at which the outer edges of all coindenominations are gaged before they reach the exit channels 1527-1532,so that each sensor detects only the coins which enter its exit channeland does not detect the coins which bypass that exit channel. Only thelargest coin denomination (e.g., U.S. half dollars) reaches the sixthexit channel 1532, and thus the location of the sensor in this exitchannel is not as critical as in the other exit channels 1527-1531.

[0435] In addition to the proximity sensors S1-S6, each of the exitchannels 1527-1532 also includes one of six coin discrimination sensorsD1-D6. These sensors D1-D6 are the eddy current sensors, and will bedescribed in more detail below in connection with FIGS. 62-65 of thedrawings.

[0436] When one of the discrimination sensors detects a coin materialthat is not the proper material for coins in that exit channel, the discmay be stopped by de-energizing or disengaging the drive motor andenergizing a brake. The suspect coin may then be discharged by joggingthe drive motor with one or more electrical pulses until the trailingedge of the suspect coin clears the exit edge of its exit channel. Theexact disc movement required to move the trailing edge of a coin fromits sensor to the exit edge of its exit channel can be empiricallydetermined for each coin denomination and then stored in the memory ofthe control system. An encoder on the sorter disc can then be used tomeasure the actual disc movement following the sensing of the suspectcoin, so that the disc can be stopped at the precise position where thesuspect coin clears the exit edge of its exit channel, thereby ensuringthat no coins following the suspect coin are discharged.

[0437] Turning now to FIGS. 62-65, one embodiment of the presentinvention employs an eddy current sensor 1710 to perform as the coinhandling system's coin discrimination sensors D1-D6. The eddy currentsensor 1710 includes an excitation coil 1712 for generating analternating magnetic field used to induce eddy currents in a coin 1714.The excitation coil 1712 has a start end 1716 and a finish end 1718. Inthis embodiment, an a-c. excitation coil voltage Vail e.g., a sinusoidalsignal of 250 Ktz and 10 volts peak-to-peak. is applied across the startend 1716 and the finish end 1718 of the excitation coil 1712 Thealternating voltage Vex produces a corresponding current in theexcitation coil 1712 which in turn produces a corresponding alternatingmagnetic field. The alternating magnetic field exists within and aroundthe excitation coil 1712 and extends outwardly to the coin 1714 Themagnetic field penetrates the coin 1714 as the coin is moving in closeproximity to the excitation coil 1712, and eddy currents are induced inthe coin 1714 as the coin moves through the alternating magnetic field.The strength of the eddy currents flowing in the coin 1714 is dependenton the material composition of the coin, and particularly the electricalresistance of that material. Resistance affects how much current willflow in the coin 1614 according to Ohm's Law(voltage=current*resistance).

[0438] The eddy currents themselves also produce a correspondingmagnetic field. A proximal detector coil 1722 and a distal coil 1724 aredisposed above the coin 1714 so that the eddy current-generated magneticfield induces voltages upon the coils 1722, 1724. The distal detectorcoil 1724 is positioned above the coin 1714 and the proximal detectorcoil 1722 is positioned between the distal detector coil 1724 and thepassing coin 1714

[0439] In one embodiment, the excitation coil 1712, the proximaldetector coil 1722 and the distal detector coil 1724 are all wound inthe same direction (either clockwise or counterclockwise). The proximaldetection coil 1722 and the distal detector coil 1724 are wound in thesame direction so that the voltages induced on these coils by the eddycurrents are properly oriented.

[0440] The proximal detection coil 1722 has a starting end 1726 and afinish end 1728. Similarly, the distal coil 1724 has a starting end 1730and a finish end 1632. In order of increasing distance from the coin1614, the detector coils 1722, 1724 are positioned as follows: finishend 1728 of the proximal detector coil 1722, start end 1726 of theproximal detector coil 1722, finish end 1732 of the distal detector coil1724 and start end 1730 of the distal detector coil 1724 The finish end1728 of the proximal detection coil 1722 is connected to the finish end1732 of the distal detector coil 1724 via a conductive wire 1734. Itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other detector coil1722, 1724 combinations are possible. For example, in an alternativeembodiment the proximal detection coil 1722 is wound in the oppositedirection of the distal detection coil 1724. In this case the start end1726 of the proximal coil 1722 is connected to the finish end 1732 ofthe distal coil 1724.

[0441] Eddy currents in the coin 1714 induce voltages V_(prox) andV_(dist) respectively on the detector coils 1722, 1724. Likewise, theexcitation coil 1712 also induces a common-mode voltage V_(com) on eachof the detector coils 1722, 1724. The common-mode voltage V_(com) iseffectively the same on each detector coil due to the symmetry of thedetector coils' physical arrangement within the excitation coil 1712.Because the detector coils 1722, 1724 are wound and physically orientedin the same direction and connected at their finish ends 1728, 1732, thecommon-mode voltage V_(com) induced by the excitation coil 1712 issubtracted out, leaving only a difference voltage V_(diff) correspondingto the eddy currents in the coin 1714. This eliminates the need foradditional circuitry to subtract out the common-mode voltage V_(com).The common-mode voltage V_(com) is effectively subtracted out becauseboth the distal detection coil 1724 and the proximal detection coil 1722receive the same level of induced voltage V_(com) from the excitationcoil 1712.

[0442] Unlike the common-mode voltage, the voltages induced by the eddycurrent in the detector coils are not effectively the same. This isbecause the proximal detector coil 1722 is purposely positioned closerto the passing coin than the distal detector coil 1724. Thus, thevoltage induced in the proximal detector coil 1722 is significantlystronger, i.e., has greater amplitude, than the voltage induced in thedistal detector coil 1724. Although the present invention subtracts theeddy current-induced voltage on the distal coil 1724 from the eddycurrent-induced voltage on the proximal coil 1722, the voltage amplitudedifference is sufficiently great to permit detailed resolution of theeddy current response.

[0443] As seen in FIG. 62, the excitation coil 1712 is radiallysurrounded by a magnetic shield 1734. The magnet shield 1734 has a highlevel of magnetic permeability in order to help contain the magneticfield surrounding the excitation coil 1712. The magnetic shield 1734 hasthe advantage of preventing a stray magnetic field from interfering withother nearby eddy current sensors. The magnetic shield is itselfradially surrounded by a steel outer case 1736.

[0444] In one embodiment the excitation coil utilizes a cylindricalceramic (e.g., alumina) core 1738. Alumina has the advantages of beingimpervious to humidity and providing a good wear surface. It isdesirable that the core 1748 be able to withstand wear because it maycome into frictional contact with the coin 1714. Alumina withstandsfrictional contact well because of its high degree of hardness, i.e.,approximately 9 on mohs scale.

[0445] To form the eddy current sensor 1510, the detection coils 1722,1724 are wound on a coil form (not shown). A preferred form is acylinder having a length of 0.5 inch, a maximum diameter of 0.2620 inch,a minimum diameter of 0.1660 inch, and two grooves of 0.060 inch widthspaced apart by 0.060 inch and spaced from one end of the form by 0.03inch. Both the proximal detection coil 1722 and the distal detector coil1724 have 350 turns of #44 AWG enamel covered magnet wire layer wound togenerally uniformly fill the available space in the grooves. Each of thedetector coils 1722, 1724 are wound in the same direction with thefinish ends 1728, 1732 being connected together by the conductive wire1734. The start ends 1726, 1730 of the detector coils 1722, 1724 areconnected to separately identified wires in a connecting cable.

[0446] The excitation coil 1712 is a generally uniformly layer wound ona cylindrical alumina ceramic coil form having a length of 0.5 inch, anoutside diameter of 0.2750 inch, and a wall thickness of 0.03125 inch.The excitation coil 1712 is wound with 135 turns of #42 AWGenamel-covered magnet wire in the same direction as the detector coils1722, 1724. The excitation coil voltage V_(ex) is applied across thestart end 1716 and the finish end 1718.

[0447] After the excitation coil 1712 and detector coils 1722, 1724 arewound, the excitation coil 1712 is slipped over the detector coils 1722,1724 around a common center axis. At this time the sensor 1710 isconnected to a test oscillator (not shown) which applies the excitationvoltage V_(ex) to the excitation coil 1712. The excitation coil'sposition is adjusted along the axis of the coil to give a null responsefrom the detector coils 1722, 1724 on an a-c. voltmeter with no metalnear the coil windings.

[0448] Then the magnetic shield 1644 is the slipped over the excitationcoil 1712 and adjusted to again give a null response from the detectorcoils 1722, 1724.

[0449] The magnetic shield 1744 and coils 1712, 1722, 1724 within themagnetic shield 1744 are then placed in the steel outer case 1746 andencapsulated with a polymer resin (not shown) to “freeze” the positionof the magnetic shield 1744 and coils 1712, 1722, 1724

[0450] After curing the resin, an end of the eddy current sensor 1710nearest the proximal detector coil 1722 is sanded and lapped to producea flat and smooth surface with the coils 1712, 1722 slightly recessedwithin the resin.

[0451] In order to detect the effect of the coin 1714 on the voltagesinduced upon the detector coils 1722, 1724, it is preferred to use acombination of phase and amplitude analysis of the detected voltage.This type of analysis minimizes the effects of variations in coinsurface geometry and in the distance between the coin and the coils.

[0452] The voltage applied to the excitation coil 1712 causes current toflow in the coil 1712 which lags behind the voltage 1720. For example,the current may lag the voltage 1720 by 90 degrees in a superconductivecoil. In effect, the coin's 1714 eddy currents impose a resistive losson the current in the excitation coil 1712. Therefore, the initial phasedifference between the voltage and current in the excitation coil 1712is decreased by the presence of the coin 1714. Thus, when the detectorcoils 1724. 1726 have a voltage induced upon them, the phase differencebetween the voltage applied to the excitation coil 1712 and that of thedetector coils is reduced due to the eddy current effect in the coin.The amount of reduction in the phase difference is proportional to theelectrical and magnetic characteristics of the coin and thus thecomposition of the coin. By analyzing both the phase difference and themaximum amplitude, an accurate assessment of the composition of the coinis achieved.

[0453]FIGS. 65A and 65B illustrate a preferred phase-sensitive detector1750 for sampling the differential output signal V_(diff) from the twodetector coils 1722, 1724. The differential output signal V_(diff) ipassed through a buffer amplifier 252 to a switch 1754, where thebuffered V_(diff) is sampled once per cycle by momentarily closing theswitch 1754 The switch 1754 is controlled by a series of referencepulses produced from the V_(ex) signal, one pulse per cycle. Thereference pulses 1758 are synchronized with excitation voltage V_(ex) sothat the amplitude of the differential output signal V_(diff) during thesampling interval is a function not only of the amplitude of thedetector coil voltages 1736, 1738, but also of the phase differencebetween the signals in excitation coil 1712 and the detection coils1736, 1738.

[0454] The pulses derived from V_(ex) are delayed by an “offset angle”which can be adjusted to minimize the sensitivity of V_(diff) tovariations in the gap between the proximal face of the sensor 1710 andthe surface of the coin 1714 being sensed. The value of the offset anglefor any given coin can be determined empirically by moving a standardmetal disc, made of the same material as the coin 1714, from a positionwhere it contacts the sensor face, to a position where it is spacedabout 0.001 to 0.020 inch from the sensor face. The signal sample fromthe detector 1750 is measured at both positions, and the differencebetween the two measurements is noted. This process is repeated atseveral different offset angles to determine the offset angle whichproduces the minimum difference between the two measurements.

[0455] Each time buffered V_(diff) is sampled, the resulting sample ispassed through a second buffer amplifier 1756 to an analog-to-digitalconverter (not shown). The resulting digital value is supplied to amicroprocessor (not shown) which compares that value with severaldifferent ranges of values stored in a lookup table (not shown). Eachstored range of values corresponds to a particular coin material, andthus the coin material represented by any given sample value isdetermined by the particular stored range into which the sample valuefalls. The stored ranges of values can be determined empirically bysimply measuring a batch of coins of each denomination and storing theresulting range of values measured for each denomination.

[0456] If desired, the coin sorting and discrimination module 19 may bereplaced with a coin discriminating module which does not sort the coinsor a coin sorting module only. Such modules would align the coins of alldenominations in a single file and guide them past a single coindiscrimination sensor to determine whether the coins are genuine. Thecoins of all denominations would then be discharged into a singlestorage receptacle and sorted at a later time. Coins that are detectedto be non-genuine would be diverted and returned to the customer at thecoin return station 4.

[0457] When an invalid coin is detected by one of the discriminatingsensors described above, the invalid coin is separated from the validcoins and returned to the customer. In the illustrative module 8, thisseparation is effected outside the sorting disc by the shunting deviceillustrated in FIGS. 66-69. The curved exit chute 1800 includes twoslots 1802, 1804 separated by an internal partition 1806. The internalpartition 1806 is pivotally mounted to a stationary base 1808 so thatthe internal partition 1806 may be moved, perpendicular to the plane ofthe coins, by an actuator 1810 between an up position (FIG. 68) and adown position (FIG. 67). The exit chute 1800 is positioned adjacent anexit channel of the coin sorter such that coins exiting the coin sorterare guided into the slot 1802 when the internal partition 1806 is in thedown position (FIG. 67). When an invalid coin is detected by thediscriminating sensor D, the actuator 1810 moves the internal partition1806 to the up position (FIG. 64) so that the invalid coin now entersthe slot 1804 of the exit chute 1800. Coins entering the slot 1804 aredischarged into the tube that conveys those coins to the coin-returnslot 62 at the front of the system. While FIGS. 65-68 illustrate only asingle exit chute, it will be apparent that a similar exit chute isprovided at each of the six coin exit locations around the circumferenceof the sorting disc.

[0458] The actuator 1810 moves the internal partition 1806 between theup and down positions in response to detection of invalid and validcoins. Thus, if the internal partition 1806 is in the down position andan invalid coin is detected, the partition 1806 is moved to the upposition so that the invalid coin will be diverted into the slot 1804.Alternatively, an invalid coin may be separated from the valid coins byuse of inboard actuators in the sorting head, activated by signalsderived from one or more sensors mounted in the sorting head upstream ofthe actuators. Such an arrangement is described in U.S. Pat. No.5,299,977, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0459] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and herein described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention tothe particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A document processing system, comprising: an input receptacle forreceiving documents; a full image scanner; a transport mechanism coupledto the input receptacle adapted to receive the documents from the inputreceptacle and transport the documents past the full image scanner; anoutput receptacle for receiving the documents from the transportmechanism after being transported past the full image scanner; the fullimage scanner being adapted to obtain full video images of thedocuments, the scanner further being adapted to optically recognizefields within the documents and to automatically extract informationfrom the fields; a controller coupled to the full image scanner; and aninterface coupled to the controller and adapted to automaticallycommunicate with an outside accounting system, the outside accountingsystem being adapted to update financial accounts associated with thedocuments substantially immediately without human intervention.
 2. Thedocument processing system of claim 1, wherein the output receptacle isa single bin.
 3. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein theoutput receptacle is a plurality of bins.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein one of the plurality of output bins is an off sort bin.
 5. Thedocument processing system of claim 1, further comprising acommunications panel adapted to communicate operational instructionsfrom the controller to a user.
 6. The document processing system ofclaim 1, wherein the interface is further adapted to send the fullimages of the documents to the outside accounting system.
 7. Thedocument processing system of claim 6, wherein the outside accountingsystem is a deposit system.
 8. The document processing system of claim6, wherein the outside accounting system is a payment system.
 9. Thedocument processing system of claim 1, wherein the documents have wideand narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with theirnarrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport.
 10. Thedocument processing system of claim 1, wherein the documents have wideand narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with their widedimension parallel to the direction of transport.
 11. The documentprocessing system of claim 1, further including a discrimination unit,the discrimination unit including an authenticator adapted toautomatically determine the authenticity of the documents, the transportmechanism moving documents past the discrimination unit.
 12. Thedocument processing system of claim 1, wherein the documents arefinancial institution documents and currency.
 13. The documentprocessing system of claim 12, wherein the financial institutiondocuments are checks and deposit slips.
 14. The document processingsystem of claim 12, wherein the financial institution documents aretransfer slips.
 15. The document scanning system of claim 1, wherein thedocuments have first and second surfaces and the documents are scannedon first and second surfaces.
 16. The document processing system ofclaim 1, wherein the output receptacle comprises two bins.
 17. Thedocument processing system of claim 1, wherein the documents have wideand narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with theirnarrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport, wherein theoutput receptacle comprises two bins.
 18. The document processing systemof claim 1, wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions andthe documents are transported with their narrow dimension parallel tothe direction of transport, wherein the output receptacle comprises onebin.
 19. The system of claim 1, further comprising a means for flaggingdocuments meeting or failing to meet predetermined criteria.
 20. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the means for flagging documents flags adocument by suspending the operation of the system, the system beinghalted so that the flagged document is located at a predeterminedposition within the system when the transport mechanism stops.
 21. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a stacking wheel comprisingflexible blades positioned to restack documents in the outputreceptacle.
 22. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is furtheradapted to process at a rate of at least 800 documents per minute.
 23. Adocument processing system, comprising: a document processor includingan input receptacle for receiving documents, a full image scanner, atransport mechanism coupled to the input receptacle for receiving thedocuments from the input receptacle and transporting the documents pastthe full image scanner and a discrimination unit, an output receptaclefor receiving the documents from the transport mechanism after beingtransported past the full image scanner and discrimination unit, thefull image scanner being adapted to obtain full video images of thedocuments, the scanner further being adapted to optically recognizefields within the documents and to automatically extract informationfrom the fields, the discrimination unit including means forautomatically determining the authenticity of the document, a controllercoupled to the transport mechanism for directing the flow of documentsthrough the transport mechanism, and an interface coupled to thecontroller and adapted to automatically communicate with an outsideaccounting system, the outside accounting system being adapted to updatefinancial accounts associated with the documents substantiallyimmediately without human intervention; and a central office computerlocated at a central location; the unit coupled to the documentprocessor adapted to process and store information concerning thedocuments.
 24. The document processing system of claim 23, wherein thecentral processing unit and the document processor are coupled by atwo-way communication link, the link allowing two-way audiocommunication between the central processing unit and the documentprocessor.
 25. The document processing system of claim 23, wherein avideo terminal is coupled to the central processing unit for displayingfull video images of the documents.
 26. The document processing systemof claim 23, further including a module for accepting a smart card andmeans for obtaining information from the smart card.
 27. The documentprocessing system of claim 23, wherein the documents are checks.
 28. Thedocument processing system of claim 23, wherein the documents arecurrency.
 29. The document processing system of claim 23, wherein theoutput receptacle is a single bin.
 30. The document processing system ofclaim 23, wherein the output receptacle is a plurality of bins.
 31. Thedocument processing system of claim 23, further comprising acommunications panel adapted to communicate operational instructionsfrom the controller to a user.
 32. The document processing system ofclaim 23, wherein the interface is further adapted to send the fullimages of the documents to the automatic outside accounting system. 33.The document processing system of claim 23, wherein the documents havewide and narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with theirnarrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport.
 34. Thedocument processing system of claim 23, wherein the documents have wideand narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with their widedimension parallel to the direction of transport.
 35. The documentprocessing system of claim 23, wherein the documents are financialinstitution documents and bank notes.
 36. The document processing systemof claim 23, wherein the documents are checks and deposit slips.
 37. Adocument evaluation device for receiving a stack of documents andrapidly evaluating the documents in the stack, the device comprising: aninput receptacle for receiving a stack of documents to be evaluated; asingle output receptacle for receiving the documents after the documentshave been evaluated; a transport mechanism for transporting thedocuments, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the outputreceptacle along a transport path; a full image scanner forautomatically evaluating and identifying the documents and obtainingimage data, the full image scanner including a detector positioned alongthe transport path between the input receptacle and the outputreceptacle; and means for flagging a document when the identity of thedocument is not determined by the full image scanner using the imagedata.
 38. The document evaluation device of claim 37, wherein the meansfor flagging causes the transport mechanism to halt with the documentwhose identity has not been determined being the last documenttransported to the output receptacle.